Dickens Heath

18°COvercast

• Today: 22° / 16° · 66% rain
• Tomorrow: 23° / 16° · Sunny

Source: WeatherAPI

Sunrise 06:36Sunset 19:29

12h 53m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

12US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Birmingham A4540 Roadside, United Kingdom

59 reported · July 2026▲ 23% YoY

• Violence & sexual offences20
• Criminal damage & arson15
• Vehicle crime12
• Anti-social behaviour4

Neighbourhood team: St Alphege and Blythe · West Midlands

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

247 reported road collisions (2024)

62 killed or seriously injured · 340 casualties · 11.4 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

240 food businesses within 2 miles

• 209 rated 4–5 ★ (179 top)
• 7 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

• Nearest station: Whitlocks End (1.1 km)
• 14 bus stops within ~½ mile

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

£334,966 average▲ 4.2% YoY

Across Solihull · to 2026-06

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

£1,269 average monthly rent▲ 2.3% YoY

• 1 bed £851
• 2 bed £1,057
• 3 bed £1,252

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

7.8× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 7.8 times median annual pay (7.6× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

• Cheapest petrol: 139.8p · AppleGreen (9.1 km)
• Cheapest diesel: 143.8p · AppleGreen (6.3 km)

37 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

63 charging locations within ~8 km

• 16 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
• Fastest nearby: 150 kW
• Nearest: Cornwood Lane (0.4 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

• Gyms1
• Swimming pools14
• Sports pitches13
• Golf courses1
• Playgrounds5

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

216,239 residents in Solihull · 1,213/km²

• Under 16: 19%
• 16–64: 60%
• 65+: 21%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Less deprived than the average in England

Ranked 206 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

12% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

£2,197 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (24% of 95,980)

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

91 schools · 41,037 pupils

59 primary · 15 secondary · 17 other

Ofsted: 32 of 36 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (89%)

84inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Solihull

242 CQC-registered services

• Care homes63
• GP practices34
• Dentists52
• Homecare agencies58
• Hospitals & hospices10

CQC ratings: 92% of rated services Good or Outstanding

Source: Care Quality Commission · Solihull

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

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

225 applications decided

93.3% granted · 210 granted, 15 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst

Conservative

Solihull West and Shirley

Source: UK Parliament

Conservative (minority)

• Con 25
• LD 6
• Grn 4
• Ref 16

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

• Schools3
• GPs & clinics3
• Pharmacies2
• Supermarkets1
• Parks & greens9
• Restaurants & cafés8

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

9,810 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

238 jobs advertised · £47,869 avg

e.g. Market Research Interviewer – Car Required – Full Time, Amazon Flex Delivery Driver - Earn £14 - £18 per hour*, Business Manager

Source: Adzuna

£899 median full-time weekly pay

3.6% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£27,713 disposable income per head (2024)

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

43% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 95,331 certificates

11.8% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

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

38% low-carbon electricity

Gas 57% · Nuclear 19% · Wind 16% · Imports 5%

229 gCO₂/kWh · high intensity

Latest estimate for West Midlands · National Grid ESO

Life expectancy: 84.1 yrs women · 80.3 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 62.9 women · 63.2 men

61% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

• Life satisfaction7.6
• Feeling worthwhile7.8
• Happiness yesterday7.6
• Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.0

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

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Solihull West and Shirley:

• Ban anyone convicted of terrorism offences from standing for public office461 local signatures · 205,058 nationwide
• Do not ban social media for under 16s374 local signatures · 217,501 nationwide
• Make a public animal abuser register & automatically ban ownership267 local signatures · 242,705 nationwide
• Review the evidence and fund the addition of SMA to the Newborn Screening Test257 local signatures · 151,287 nationwide
• Hold a referendum to bring the water industry into public ownership160 local signatures · 163,883 nationwide

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

• 
  Dickens Heath · 0.1 km

  Dickens Heath is a large modern village and civil parish in the borough of Solihull in the West Midlands and historic Warwickshire, incorporating the much older hamlet of Whitlocks End. It was previously part of the c…

• 
  Highgate United F.C. · 0.6 km

  Highgate United Football Club is a football club based in the Shirley district of Solihull, having relocated from their original home in Highgate, Birmingham. They are currently members of the United Counties League P…

• 
  Whitlocks End railway station · 1.2 km

  Whitlocks End railway station is a railway station on the North Warwickshire Line located next to, and named after the hamlet of Whitlock's End in the West Midlands of England. It lies a short distance from several vi…

• Tidbury Green · 1.2 km

  Tidbury Green is a village and civil parish within the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the county of West Midlands in England. The population of the civil parish as taken at the 2011 census was 1,130.

• 
  Major's Green · 1.4 km

  Major's Green is a village in the Wythall parish of Bromsgrove district and is the northeasternmost settlement in the county of Worcestershire, England.

• Light Hall School · 1.7 km

  Light Hall School is a secondary school located in Shirley, West Midlands, England.

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)