Lea Valley

10°COvercast

• Today: 12° / 7° · 42% rain
• Tomorrow: 11° / 6° · Sunny

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:59Sunset 16:30

9h 31m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

14US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: coarse particles (PM10)

Source: WAQI · Brent - Ikea, United Kingdom

• 7.5 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
• 5.6% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution

Lower is better for both figures.

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024

15 reported · August 2026▲ 50% YoY

• Violence & sexual offences5
• Anti-social behaviour4
• Other theft3
• Vehicle crime2

Neighbourhood team: Harpenden and Rural · Hertfordshire

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

230 reported road collisions (2025)

47 killed or seriously injured · 326 casualties · 15.5 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

173 food businesses within 2 miles

• 141 rated 4–5 ★ (111 top)
• 6 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Harpenden (2.5 km)
• 10 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£655,974 average▲ 3.2% YoY

Across St Albans · to 2026-08

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,931 average monthly rent▲ 2.9% YoY

• 1 bed £1,271
• 2 bed £1,633
• 3 bed £2,019

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

15.0× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 15.0 times median annual pay (13.9× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

1,801 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: 169.7p · Asda (11.9 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 145.8p · AppleGreen (9.3 km)

10 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

43 charging locations within ~8 km

• 9 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 350 kW
• Nearest: Bowers Way Car Park (2.7 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools20
• Sports pitches39
• Golf courses3
• Playgrounds3

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

148,165 residents in St Albans · 919/km²

• Under 16: 22%
• 16–64: 61%
• 65+: 17%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

• Moves in from elsewhere in the UK10,315
• Moves out to elsewhere in the UK10,391
• Net moves−76

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

Among the least deprived areas in England

Ranked 288 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025

£2,419 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band D (26% of 63,450)

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

80 schools · 34,051 pupils

50 primary · 12 secondary · 18 other

Ofsted: 29 of 29 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (100%)

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

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · St Albans

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

• Within the Green Belt
• 57 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

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

299 applications decided

84.3% granted · 252 granted, 47 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2

Victoria Collins

Liberal Democrat

Harpenden and Berkhamsted

Source: UK Parliament

Liberal Democrat majority

• Lab 2
• Con 5
• LD 43
• Grn 3
• Oth 3

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

• Schools4
• Parks & greens7
• Restaurants & cafés2

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

9,205 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

£1,135 median full-time weekly pay

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

£40,492 disposable income per head (2024)

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

46% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 66,877 certificates

7.2% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

84% low-carbon electricity

Wind 54% · Nuclear 20% · Gas 16% · Biomass 10%

72 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for East England · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 85.7 yrs women · 82.4 yrs men

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

63% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction8.0
• Feeling worthwhile8.0
• Happiness yesterday7.6
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.0

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

1 GP surgery · 4 pharmacies in AL4

• Specialist Community Diabetes Service

Source: NHS Organisation Data Service

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Harpenden and Berkhamsted:

• Hold a UK-wide briefing on climate and nature risks348 local signatures · 127,144 nationwide
• Protect legal right to support for children with SEND205 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
• Support the Ceramics Industry and protect British manufacturing jobs and skills202 local signatures · 111,154 nationwide
• Make statutory maternity pay 90% of wage for first 12 weeks & minimum wage after163 local signatures · 58,157 nationwide
• End the mandatory fortification of white flour with folic acid immediately146 local signatures · 76,640 nationwide

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

• 
  Marshalls Heath · 0.3 km

  Marshalls Heath is a hamlet and a 4-hectare (10-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Wheathampstead parish, Hertfordshire, England. The nature reserve is owned by Wheathampstead Parish Council and managed by the council toge…

• 
  Aldwickbury School · 1.3 km

  Aldwickbury School is a 3-13 co-educational private preparatory school located on the outskirts of Harpenden, Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. Aldwickbury School was established in 1937, when Kenneth Castle took o…

• 
  St Helen's Church, Wheathampstead · 1.6 km

  St Helen's Church is the oldest church in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, England, although the date of its origins is unknown. The wooden Anglo-Saxon structure pre-dated the Norman conquest of England, but no records…

• 
  Wheathampstead railway station · 1.6 km

  Wheathampstead railway station was a railway station serving Wheathampstead on the Great Northern Railway branch line to Dunstable. While little of it remains now, east of Wheathampstead is the Ayot Greenway which fol…

• 
  Batford Springs · 1.6 km

  Batford Springs is a 3.5-hectare (8.6-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Harpenden in Hertfordshire. It is owned and managed by Harpenden Town Council, and most work on the site is undertaken by the Batford Springs Volunte…

• Batford · 1.7 km

  Batford is a village in Hertfordshire, England, located on the River Lea on the outskirts of Harpenden. Batford Springs is a local nature reserve alongside the river and the village green, which has a small play area…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)