St Albans
Hertfordshire · East of England
Best for: Commuters · Lifestyle
Property & affordability
What can I get here?
£570,000
Typical property price
£325,500–£875,000
Range across property types
+1.1%
Price change, past year
£875,000
Detached
£685,000
Semi-detached
£560,000
Terraced
£325,500
Flat/apartment
Vs London: 12% more expensive than the London reference figure.
Recent movement: Up 1.1% over the past year.
Vs nearby: More expensive than 74% of the other 27 Hertfordshire candidates in this dataset.
We don't hold per-bedroom price data for these towns - the figures above are the overall median and by property type, not broken down by bedroom count.
London commute
21 min
Fastest journey
214
Trains per day
St Albans City
Station
London destination: London St Pancras
The reality: Well suited to a daily commute.
The verdict
St Albans ranks #6 of 80 in this dataset with a VillageScore of 62.8 (Grade A). It scores particularly well on Connectivity and Lifestyle, making it a strong fit for the London Commuter profile in particular. Its weakest area is Risk & Safety (11.4/100 among the 80 candidates) - worth weighing against what matters most to you.
Why is St Albans #6?
62.8Data last updated: August 2026
below average
Based on:
- 70% weight: property prices here compared with London prices (cheaper relative to London scores higher)
- 30% weight: one-year house price growth (stronger recent growth scores higher)
- Both figures are converted to a percentile rank across all 80 candidates before combining - the score is relative standing, not a raw price
top tier among the 80 candidates
Based on:
- 70% weight: fastest rail journey time to London from the nearest station
- 30% weight: number of trains per day on that route
- 32 of the 80 candidates have their own sourced station data; the other 48 inherit the figures for their nearest mainline station as a proxy, since a direct entry wasn't available for every location.
top tier among the 80 candidates
Based on:
- Average of 6 factors, each independently percentile-ranked: footpath access, green space access, and proximity to a supermarket, GP, pharmacy, and community facilities
- Distance-based factors are inverted so being closer scores higher
one of the weaker scores among the 80 candidates
Based on:
- Based on recorded crime per 1,000 population for the local authority this location sits in (lower crime scores higher)
- Calculated at local-authority level, not per-village - every town in the same local authority receives the same D4 score, even if their real-world feel differs street to street.
comfortably above average
Based on:
- Average of 5 factors, each independently percentile-ranked: primary school quality, secondary school quality, distance to nearest primary school, distance to nearest secondary school, and family recreation provision
- Distance factors are inverted so being closer scores higher
comfortably above average
Based on:
- Weighted average of 6 named sub-components, by local authority: Housing Pipeline (25%), Planning Protection (20%), Infrastructure Investment (20%), Employment Growth (15%), Digital Infrastructure (10%), Climate Adaptation (10%)
- Housing Pipeline uses the government's Housing Delivery Test %; Planning Protection uses years of 5-year housing land supply
- Employment Growth uses ONS BRES employee jobs data (% change 2022-2024); Digital Infrastructure uses Ofcom's gigabit-capable broadband coverage %
- Climate Adaptation uses Environment Agency flood-risk scoring; Infrastructure Investment uses UK Shared Prosperity Fund allocation per resident
- Calculated at local-authority level, like D4. Planning Protection specifically has no sourced figure for 2 of the 13 authorities (Broxbourne, Epping Forest) - their Future Change score is computed from the other 5 sub-components, reweighted to 100%.
Every dimension score (0-100) is itself a percentile rank among these same 80 candidates, not a raw measurement on a fixed scale. A score of 80 means "stronger than roughly 80% of these 80 locations on this factor" - not "80 out of 100" in absolute terms. Full methodology →
The good
- +Connectivity: top tier among the 80 candidates (96.3/100)
- +Lifestyle: top tier among the 80 candidates (87.6/100)
- +Family & Education: comfortably above average (75.7/100)
- +Future Change: comfortably above average (67.2/100)
The bad
- −Risk & Safety: one of the weaker scores among the 80 candidates (11.4/100)
- −Property & Value: below average (31.4/100)
What it's actually like
Read off the same scores as the rest of this page, not local knowledge we hold about St Albans specifically.
The vibe: Leans toward London commuters - its Connectivity score (96/100) is one of its clearest strengths.
You'll probably love it if...
- ·You value connectivity - it scores 96/100, among the strongest of the 80 candidates.
- ·You value lifestyle - it scores 88/100, among the strongest of the 80 candidates.
- ·You value family & education - it scores 76/100, among the strongest of the 80 candidates.
- ·You value future change - it scores 67/100, among the strongest of the 80 candidates.
You might not like it if...
- ·Property & Value matters a lot to you - it scores 31/100, one of the weaker results in the dataset.
- ·Risk & Safety matters a lot to you - it scores 11/100, one of the weaker results in the dataset.
Who lives here: We don't hold demographic data directly, but the scoring pattern - particularly its Connectivity score - suggests this location skews toward London commuters. That's an inference from the scores, not a measured fact about who actually lives here.
Weekends: With a Lifestyle score of 88/100 - driven by green space, footpath, and local amenity access - weekend life here likely leans on what's nearby rather than needing to travel.
Local amenities & green space
Real counts within a 5-mile radius, plus a sample of named pubs, cafes, and green spaces from OpenStreetMap - not a curated or rated recommendation list.
Pubs & dining: Around 40 pubs and 200 restaurants & cafes within 5 miles.
The Beehive (0.0 mi) · The Farmer's Boy (0.1 mi) · The Garibaldi (0.1 mi) · The White Lion (0.1 mi) · St Villa (0.0 mi) · WON (0.0 mi) · Chilli Bar & Kitchen (0.1 mi) · Casbah (0.1 mi)
Shopping: 9 supermarkets and around 595 independent businesses (a proxy for local shops, not a shopping-centre count) within 5 miles.
Green space: 1,676.3 hectares of green space across 613 sites within 5 miles, including 2 registered parks & gardens.
The Old Brickie (0.5 mi) · Watercress Wildlife Association (0.5 mi) · Clarence Park (0.6 mi) · Marsh (0.6 mi) · Former Abbey View Golf Course (0.7 mi)
Named venues © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL.
Risk & opportunity
Figures for the St Albans local authority area, not just St Albans itself - the same authority-level basis as Risk & Safety and Future Change above.
Risk
Low flood risk - around 17,200 properties across the authority area (Environment Agency, 2024)
4.6 years of housing land supply - below the national 5-year benchmark
84% of target homes delivered over the last 3 years (Housing Delivery Test)
Future opportunity
+4.3% change in local jobs, 2022-2024 (ONS)
£10.75 per resident in UK Shared Prosperity Fund investment, 2022-25
93.3% of premises have access to gigabit-capable broadband
Doesn't cover transport dependency, named developments, or population trends - we don't hold real data on those for any of the 80 candidates.
Who it's best for
Best fit: the London Commuter profile scores highest here (66.8/100).
No persona profile scores notably low here relative to the other 79 candidates.
Similar locations
Closest VillageScore to St Albans, Hertfordshire candidates first.
Things to know before you view
- ·Risk & Safety is this location's weakest dimension (11.4/100 among the 80 candidates) - worth researching in more depth before committing.
- ·Risk & Safety and Future Change are calculated at local-authority level, not per-village - see "How we score it" below for what that means here.
- ·All dimension scores are percentile ranks among these 80 candidates, not absolute measurements - a lower score means relatively weaker within this specific list, not necessarily bad in absolute terms.
v2.0 Production · last updated 2026-08-21