Insights
A place of Market Towns and Villages and special landscapes...
Central Bedfordshire is a Unitary Authority located in the East of England. At 716 square kilometres, it is the 11th largest in the country and one of the least densely populated.
As a result, Central Bedfordshire is predominantly rural in character. With Milton Keynes, Bedford and Luton at its borders, Central Bedfordshire has no major town of its own. Instead, it is characterised by many small towns and villages.
Much of the authority is covered by special designations including Greenbelt, the Chilterns AONB, the Forest of Marston Vale, and the expansive Greensand Country, as well as many parks and nature reserves which preserve the openness of the countryside.
While this dispersed, rural identity is what makes Central Bedfordshire an attractive place to live, it also poses challenges for getting around and accessing shops, services and jobs close to home. With no dominant destination for employment and services, the majority of residents travel out of Central Bedfordshire to work in surrounding major regional centres and London, making travel distances longer than the national average—with 29% travelling farther than 20 miles each day—and often ruling out walking or cycling as a travel option.
There is therefore a strong reliance on the car, with 71% of people travelling to work by car, 8% on foot, 2% on bicycle and 2.5% by bus.
The coverage and frequency of bus services is limited, and while most of Central Bedfordshire is able to access a local or strategic centre within 30 minutes by car, many cannot do so by public transport within an hour.
While local travel can be difficult, Central Bedfordshire benefits from good strategic connections. Important north-south road (M1, A1, A5 and A6) and rail lines (East Coast, Midland and West Coast Mainlines) connect Central Bedfordshire to London and the North, though east- west connections are more limited; while Luton Airport connects it with to the world.
Growth potential
280,000 people live in Central Bedfordshire in 2017, 46,000 (20%) more than in 2001. Our population is expected to continue to grow to 2050.
To accommodate this growth, new homes will need to be constructed, many of which are already underway.
Central Bedfordshire has one the highest housing targets within the Oxford- Cambridge Arc, a significant challenge considering its dispersed character.
Centrally positioned within the Oxford-Cambridge Arc, the area is well placed to take advantage of growth and investment in infrastructure. This includes East-West Rail and the A1 Expressway improvements but it will be important this is capitalised on in a way that mitigates the pressures of growth and ensures Central Bedfordshire retains the local attributes that make it special.
Changing demographics
At the moment, the largest household group in Central Bedfordshire is new families, reflecting the growing amount of new housing stock.
Growth in Central Bedfordshire set to be fastest among older people. Where 27,800 (56%) residents aged 65+ are expected by 2035.
Households are also getting smaller. Where households are on average 2.43 people today, this is expected to drop to 2.32 in 2041.
Continuing to provide housing, employment and educational opportunities remains critical.
A good place to live but becoming increasingly unaffordable
The 2015 Quality of Life Index rates Central Bedfordshire 13th best place to live in the UK, a sentiment echoed by 87% of residents who reported being at least fairly satisfied with their local area in 2018.
Overall, people are fairly affluent, with 79% living in the least deprived 50% of neighbourhoods in the country.
There are, however, pockets of deprivation with 2% of residents living in the most deprived 20% of neighbourhoods in the country, most of whom are concentrated in parts of Dunstable, Houghton Regis and Flitwick.
10% of residents claim housing benefits, and 11.3% of children are living in poverty.
It is increasingly hard to buy a home in Central Bedfordshire. The average house price is £332,423, 6.7 times the average income. Average house prices have risen by 16.7% since 2006.
With more people living alone or in small families, providing the right homes for everyone at affordable prices, and creating places outside the home in which to find community, are increasingly important.
Social Mobility needs to be addressed
The chances of someone from a disadvantaged background getting on in life is closely linked to where they grow up and choose to make a life for themselves. Central Bedfordshire is ranked 226 out of 324 Local Authorities in England for social mobility with only 44% of children entitled to a free school meal reaching the expected level of development.
Health and Well-being must be improved
In 2015 there were roughly 20,000 people living with a limiting long-term condition, a number expected to rise to 32,000 by 2030. 61% of adults are considered overweight and/or obese, and one-in-five adults report that they are physically inactive. Around a third of 10- to 11-year-olds are overweight.
While life expectancy is high and increasing, life expectancy is around 15 years longer than healthy life expectancy, indicating that people live a long time with ill health.
33% of private pensioner households have no car and 56% have only one person, posing challenges for older residents in accessing care and services and in maintaining connections.
Safety and security is important
There were nearly 20,000 crimes committed in 2018. While lower than the UK average, residents report crime & antisocial behaviour as a high priority for improvement, and only 72% feel safe after dark.
A strong and growing economy
While the recent shock of Covid-19 has severely impacted our economy we expect to recover and see a number of economic cycles in the years to 2050.
Central Bedfordshire generated £5.9 billion GVA in 2017, a 33% growth since 2010. It is home to 119,000 jobs, 14,000 more than in 2007. GVA is projected to rise 1.6% per annum between 2022 and 2027, higher than the national average. The Central Bedfordshire Local Plan seeks to deliver 24,000 new jobs to 2031.
The number of businesses has been climbing since 2010, and business survival rates are higher than the UK average, with 46% of businesses born in 2012 surviving their first five years. 91% of all enterprises employ fewer than ten people, resulting in the higher number of small businesses in Central Bedfordshire.
Central Bedfordshire’s key sectors include agriculture and food; high performance technologies and R&D; transport and logistics; and the visitor economy. Several sectors have declined in recent years, including retail, motor trades, wholesale and education.
The National Infrastructure Commission anticipates an increase of 1 million jobs across the Oxford- Cambridge Arc, especially in higher value sectors, of which key to Central Bedfordshire are high- tech, engineering and future transport, aerospace, food tech and knowledge industries.
Central Bedfordshire’s existing assets such as Cranfield University and Millbrook Proving Ground, as well as its strong links to London and the Midlands, will prove ever-more important.
But more can be done to capitalise on our workforce
19% of people are employed in professional occupations and 11% in skilled trades. Since 2009, there has been a 38% and 23% increase in tech and professional occupations respectively.
While 75% of Central Bedfordshire’s labour force is economically active, higher than the national average, 40% of working residents commute outside of Central Bedfordshire.
Weekly earnings for Central Bedfordshire residents are higher than workplace-based earnings for jobs in Central Bedfordshire, this reflects the fact that more highly skilled people are travelling out of Central Bedfordshire to work than in.
As a result, Central Bedfordshire is trailing behind its neighbours in productivity terms, with a GVA per worker that is 26% less than that of Milton Keynes.
You can read more about how we developed the Vision on Our Approach to page. Alternatively, you can read the full Vision document (PDF).