Preston (North Hertfordshire)

8°COvercast

• Today: 10° / 6° · 22% rain
• Tomorrow: 10° / 6° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 07:03Sunset 16:26

9h 23m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

20US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Enfield - Bowes Primary School, 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

3 reported · August 2026

• Violence & sexual offences2
• Criminal damage & arson1

Neighbourhood team: Hitchin Rural · 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)

14 food businesses within 2 miles

• 10 rated 4–5 ★ (9 top)
• 2 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Hitchin (5.1 km)
• 2 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 (8.3 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 145.8p · AppleGreen (10.1 km)

12 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

47 charging locations within ~8 km

• 12 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 360 kW
• Nearest: BP Oakfield SF Connect (3.6 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Swimming pools8
• Sports pitches11
• Playgrounds1

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

• In a conservation area (Preston)
• Within the Green Belt
• 42 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

Labour (minority)

• Lab 23
• Con 7
• LD 20
• Oth 1

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

• Schools2
• GPs & clinics1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

7,125 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)

£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

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

4 GP surgeries · 1 pharmacy in SG4

• The Portmill Surgery
• Whitwell Surgery
• Ramsay Pinehill Hospital

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

• 
  Princess Helena College · 0.0 km

  PHC was a co-educational private day and boarding school for pupils aged 11 to 18 in Preston near Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England.

• 
  Preston, Hertfordshire · 0.2 km

  Preston is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 425.

• 
  The Red Lion, Preston, Hertfordshire · 0.2 km

  The Red Lion is a pub in the village of Preston, outside Hitchin in Hertfordshire, England. It is a grade II listed building, the oldest parts dating from around 1700.

• 
  Wain Wood · 0.8 km

  Wain Wood is an ancient woodland extending to 19.2 hectares near Preston in North Hertfordshire. The site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, which was notified in 1986 under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 198…

• 
  Minsden Chapel · 1.6 km

  Minsden Chapel is an isolated ruined chapel in the fields above the hamlet of Chapelfoot, near Preston, Hertfordshire. Today it is a roofless shell, partly surrounded by a small wood, and accessible only by footpath.…

• 
  Hill End Pit · 1.8 km

  Hill End Pit is a 0.7-hectare (1.7-acre) nature reserve on the site of a former chalk pit, in St Paul's Walden in North Hertfordshire. It was formerly managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust (HMWT). In Febru…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)