Hitchin

10°CPatchy rain nearby

• Today: 12° / 6° · 52% rain
• Tomorrow: 12° / 7° · Patchy rain nearby

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:57Sunset 16:31

9h 34m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

17US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Brent - Ikea, United Kingdom

• 7.2 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.4% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

219 reported · August 2026▲ 42% YoY

• Anti-social behaviour62
• Violence & sexual offences61
• Shoplifting28
• Other theft14

3 stop & searches · mostly controlled drugs

Neighbourhood team: Hitchin Urban · Hertfordshire

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

158 reported road collisions (2025)

43 killed or seriously injured · 225 casualties · 11.9 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

315 food businesses within 2 miles

• 258 rated 4–5 ★ (211 top)
• 6 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Hitchin (1.6 km)
• 39 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£422,835 average▲ 3.1% YoY

Across North Hertfordshire · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,434 average monthly rent▲ 5.4% YoY

• 1 bed £1,024
• 2 bed £1,284
• 3 bed £1,576

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08

10.0× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 10.0 times median annual pay (9.9× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

1,767 property sales in the last 12 months

12 months to May 2026

A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.

Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05

• Cheapest petrol: 159.9p · Esso (5.4 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 192.7p · Asda (8.1 km)

9 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

38 charging locations within ~8 km

• 8 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 175 kW
• Nearest: Lairaige Multi Storey Carpark (0.2 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Sports centres4
• Swimming pools13
• Sports pitches56
• Playgrounds8

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

133,210 residents in North Hertfordshire · 355/km²

• Under 16: 19%
• 16–64: 61%
• 65+: 19%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK9,446
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK9,042
• Net moves+404

Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025

Among the least deprived areas in England

Ranked 256 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,449 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (34% of 60,040)

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

69 schools · 19,871 pupils

53 primary · 6 secondary · 10 other

Ofsted: 26 of 30 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (87%)

65 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · North Hertfordshire

1,176 CQC-registered services

• Care homes257
• GP practices171
• Dentists296
• Homecare agencies330
• Hospitals & hospices34

CQC ratings: 86% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 7 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Hertfordshire

• Not in the Green Belt
• 198 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

237 applications decided

90.3% granted · 214 granted, 23 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Alistair Strathern

Labour

Hitchin

Source: UK Parliament

Labour (minority)

• Lab 23
• Con 7
• LD 20
• Oth 1

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

• Schools12
• GPs & clinics2
• Pharmacies4
• Supermarkets4
• Parks & greens19
• Restaurants & cafés61

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

7,125 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

371 jobs advertised · £45,413 avg

e.g. Nursery Manager, Senior Occupational Therapist - Hitchin, Consultant in Hepatology

Source: Adzuna

£983 median full-time weekly pay

2.4% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£31,048 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

49% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: C · 66,549 certificates

8.5% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

82% low-carbon electricity

Wind 46% · Gas 18% · Nuclear 16% · Solar 12%

79 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 84 yrs women · 80.2 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy (Hertfordshire): 65.5 women · 65.4 men

66% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.6
• Feeling worthwhile7.8
• Happiness yesterday7.6
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.4

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

6 GP surgeries · 7 pharmacies in SG5

• Larksfield And Arlesey Medical Practice
• Bancroft Medical Centre
• Regal Chambers Surgery

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Hitchin:

• Dedicated funding for Epidermolysis Bullosa and rare skin conditions research584 local signatures · 11,555 nationwide
• Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases477 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide
• Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks405 local signatures · 127,144 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND292 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth264 local signatures · 113,305 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05

• 
  Hitchin Museum and Art Gallery · 0.3 km

  The Hitchin Museum and Art Gallery was a local history museum in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England, with an extensive collection that told the story of the town’s social history and of the rural industries that contribu…

• 
  Hitchin · 0.3 km

  Hitchin is a market town in the North Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hil…

• 
  North Hertfordshire Museum · 0.3 km

  North Hertfordshire Museum is a museum that displays collections relating to local history and heritage. It is located adjacent to the refurbished Hitchin Town Hall on Brand Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

• 
  Butts Close · 0.3 km

  Butts Close is an 11-acre (45,000 m2) park in the town of Hitchin, Hertfordshire that used to once be a sporting ground for archery. Claimed to be the oldest open space in Hitchin, the name refers to the archery butts…

• Hitchin Rural District · 0.4 km

  Hitchin Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the north of the county.

• 
  Hitchin (constituency) · 0.4 km

  Hitchin was a parliamentary constituency in Hertfordshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 gene…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)