Colney Heath’s story
7 listed buildings
Historic England lists them inside Colney Heath’s built-up area.
12% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →
Colney HeathHertfordshire
Home to 1,059 people, this village lies in Hertfordshire, East of England.
7 places within 12 milesMap →
Photo: Barry Lawson · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
1,059
Census 2021 · St Albans council
Median home
£605K
49 sales in 3 years
Median age
44.9
20% are 65+ · Hertfordshire 17%
Degree level
31%
of residents 16+ · England 34%
Walk, cycle, bus
13%
of commuters · England 27%
Is Colney Heath a good place to live?
Jobs and pay hold up well (B+): households earn a mean £71,877 a year, and 3.2% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits. Cost of living is its weak spot (C) — a typical home costs £605,000 and rent runs £1,877 a month. Elsewhere it is close to typical: B for schools, B for health and B− for walkability. Natural hazards are less of a worry than in most UK towns (A).
Figures: income and life expectancy, ONS · claimants, DWP · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · commuting, Census 2021 · flood risk, Environment Agency. Colney Heath has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
StrongestAHazard risk
How Colney Heath grades
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Colney Heath is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
Hazard risk0% of homes at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the seaAOpen →Cost of livingMedian sale £605,000, 7.6 years of area incomeCOpen →Jobs & incomeAhead of most towns comparedB+Open →SchoolsPrimary results beat 50% of towns in England; secondary results beat 71% of towns in EnglandBOpen →SafetyBased on crimes reported per residentC+Open →HealthLife expectancy 80.9 for men, 85.2 for womenBOpen →WalkabilityGraded on how easily people get around without a carB−Open →
Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
HistoryBelow the middle of the towns comparedCOpen →Outdoors100% live within 400 m of a park; 8.7 ha of public green space per 1,000 residentsAOpen →Civic life2.8 local charities per 1,000 residents; 0% live within 1 km of a libraryC+Open →
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Colney Heath stand out
The 3 things Colney Heath does most differently from other towns.
Listed buildings per 10,000 residents
History
0 Grade II*; 2.7 times the typical UK town for its size
Historic England’s list, October 2026.
Median sale, £ thousands
Housing
2.2 times the typical UK town’s £277K
Standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026.
Walk, cycle or public transport
Getting around
13% leave the car
of commuters walk, cycle or take public transport (England’s towns 27%)
The data
Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Colney Heath.
HousingCost of living grade C
Private renting is less common in Colney Heath than in Hertfordshire’s towns or across England’s towns: 7%
£605Kmedian sale
Households that own their home make up 71%. Social housing holds just over a fifth of households, above both Hertfordshire’s towns (18%) and England’s towns (18%). Behind the median of £605,000: 49 standard sales inside Colney Heath’s built-up area, September 2023 to August 2026.
Median sale price · Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
Colney Heath£605K
Typical UK town£277K
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £843,895 | 14 |
| Semi-detached | £587,500 | 26 |
| Terraced | £475,000 | 8 |
71%
of households own their home · England 61%
7%
rent privately · England 21%
£1,877
average private rent a month, St Albans council area
£2,508
council tax, Band D, 2026–27
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
History
All 7 of Colney Heath’s listed buildings are Grade II
7listed buildingsCHistory Grade
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
12% of homes were built before 1919. Colney Heath has 66 listed buildings for every 10,000 residents.
Listed buildings by grade · Historic England
Grade I0
Grade II*0
Grade II7
0
scheduled monuments
0
registered parks and gardens
12%
of homes built before 1919 · typical UK town 15%
66
listed buildings per 10,000 residents · typical UK town 24
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
Safety
Burglary and damage hit Colney Heath harder than Hertfordshire’s towns or England’s towns: 16.7 per 1,000 residents a year
21.1violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a yearC+Safety Grade
Of all the crimes, 42% were violence and sexual offences. A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 59 offences in Colney Heath and 13 cases of nuisance behaviour. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Colney Heath has more crime per resident than 79% of them.
Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 21% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
Reports by type · Sep 2025 to Aug 2026
Violence & sexual25
Damage & arson7
Burglary7
Vehicle crime7
Other theft6
Drugs4
Public order2
Other crime1
Anti-social13
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
21.1
violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
16.7
burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026
14.2
anti-social behaviour reports per 1,000 (not graded)
59
crimes recorded in the 12 months to August 2026
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
Health
84% of people in Colney Heath rate their health good or very good
84%good or very good healthBHealth Grade
The nearest A&E to Colney Heath is Barnet General Hospital, 6.2 miles away. Seeing a GP means leaving Colney Heath: the nearest practice is 1.9 miles away. Women here live to 85.2 on average and men to 80.9 (2019–23).
General health, self-reported
Good or very good 84%Fair 11%Bad or very bad 4%
| Census 2021 | Colney Heath | Hertfordshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 84% | 85% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.3% | 3.8% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 17% | 14% | 17% |
80.9
life expectancy at birth, men (2019–23)
85.2
life expectancy at birth, women
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · A young population flatters these answers, which are not age-adjusted; the Health Grade instead uses measures that allow for age, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
Work & commuteJobs & income grade B+
Colney Heath is a driving town: 86% of commuters go by car, above Hertfordshire’s towns and England’s towns
13%walk, cycle or ride
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 37% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Just over a third of commuters travelled under 5 km to work. At the census, 13% went to work on foot, by bike or by public transport, below both Hertfordshire’s towns (24%) and England’s towns (27%). Colney Heath counts 0.3 jobs per working resident. Work in town: 1% of resident commuters.
How commuters got to work · March 2021
Driving86%
On foot7%
Bicycle2%
Bus2%
Train1%
Underground, tram1%
34%
of commuters travel under 5 km · England 45%
37%
worked mainly from home in March 2021
£72K
mean household income, before tax
3.2%
of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits (2026)
B−
Walkability: more walkable than 47% of UK towns
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
Who lives here
Fewer people in Colney Heath hold a degree than in Hertfordshire’s towns or England’s towns: 31%
44.9median age
People 65 and over make up 20% of the town. Colney Heath has a median age of 44.9. Those aged 15 to 24 account for just over one in ten residents.
Colney HeathHertfordshireEngland
Ages · share of residents
20%
Qualifications · residents 16 and older
No qualifications16%
Apprenticeship5%
A levels or similar19%
Degree level31%
Women and men · all residents
52% women, 48% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
| Colney Heath | Hertfordshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 18% | 19% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 12% | 11% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 20% | 27% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 30% | 26% | 25% |
| 65+ | 20% | 17% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 16% | 15% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 5.3% | 4.5% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 19% | 16% | 17% |
| Degree level | 31% | 39% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Hertfordshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Colney Heath
14pages on Colney Heath
The big questions
SafetyC+21.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026Cost of livingCMedian home £605K · rent £1,877 a monthHousing18 sold in 12 months · busiest street Osier RoadSchoolsBHealthBLife expectancy 80.9 (men), 85.2 (women)Work & commuteB+54% of working residents work in the townFlood & hazardsA0% of homes at high or medium flood risk
Out and about
Nearby attractions
All attractions →Hatfield House and 7 more in and around Colney Heath
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Colney Heath. Best known first.
Historic houseHatfield House2.9 km outside town, to the northeast
MuseumDe Havilland Aircraft Museum3.1 km outside town, to the southwest
Historic houseTyttenhanger House1.8 km outside town, to the southwest
MuseumMill Green Museum & Working Mill4.1 km outside town, to the northeastTheme parkTheme parkWillows Activity Farm2.4 km outside town, to the southwestMuseumMuseumHatfield Bunker2.4 km outside town, to the northPlaces: © OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata
Photos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
Photo credits (4)
- Hatfield House: Allan Engelhardt, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- De Havilland Aircraft Museum: Jack Hill, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Tyttenhanger House: Mike Hartley, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
- Mill Green Museum & Working Mill: Alexander Curtis, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
About Colney Heath
Village in Hertfordshire, England
Colney Heath is a built-up area of 1,059 people, in the St Albans council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
- Population
- 1,059 (Census 2021)
- Council
- St Albans (mostly)
- County
- Hertfordshire
- Region
- East of England
- Area
- 0.2 sq mi (0.4 km²)
- ONS code
- E63004469
Colney Heath’s neighbours
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
Welham GreenHatfieldLondon ColneyBrookmans ParkShenleySt AlbansPotters BarColney Heath
How the neighbours grade
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colney Heath | 1,059 | — | — | C | C+ | B |
| Welham Green | 2,962 | 1.4 | C+ | C− | C+ | B |
| Hatfield | 41,561 | 1.7 | C | C+ | D | C |
| London Colney | 7,932 | 2.3 | B+ | B | C− | B |
| Brookmans Park | 4,033 | 2.7 | A | D | B | A+ |
| Shenley | 3,556 | 3.5 | B− | D | B | C+ |
| St Albans | 75,544 | 3.5 | A | C | C | A− |
| Potters Bar | 23,394 | 3.7 | B+ | C− | C | B+ |
People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
Questions about Colney Heath
Is Colney Heath expensive to live in?
Homes cost more than in most UK towns: the median sale over three years was £605,000, against £277,000 in the typical UK town. By type: terraced houses £475,000, semi-detached houses £587,500 and detached houses £843,895.
How many listed buildings are there in Colney Heath?
That is 2.7 times the typical UK town for its size.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.