Swales Drive, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 8FH

People

Gender

In the UK, the overall gender distribution is approximately 49% male and 51% female. The area surrounding LU7 8FH has a slightly higher male population, with 51.2% of residents being male. Several factors can contribute to this, including areas with industries or sectors that predominantly employ men, proximity to universities or technical schools with a higher enrollment of male students, presence of all-male or predominantly male institutions (military academies, boarding schools).

	2011	2021	10y change (pp)	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
Female	47.6%	48.8%	1.2%	51.0%	-2.2%
Male	52.4%	51.2%	-1.2%	49.0%	2.2%

Partnership Status

Across the UK, the average relationship status breakdown is roughly 44% married, 38% single, 9% divorced, 6% widowed, and 2% separated.

In the immediate area around LU7 8FH, a significant portion of the population is single, making up 47.3% of the residents. On average, approximately 38% of individuals who responded to the census in the UK were single. Areas with higher single populations are typically urban centers, university towns, regions with dynamic job markets, rich cultural offerings and entertainment facilities. These regions also tend to have a younger demographic.

	2011	2021	10y change (pp)	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
Single	42.4%	47.3%	4.9%	37.9%	9.4%
Married: Opposite sex	35.1%	31.6%	-3.5%	44.2%	-12.6%
Married: Same sex	0.5%	1.9%	1.4%	0.3%	1.6%
Separated	6.2%	3.5%	-2.7%	2.2%	1.3%
Divorced	11.6%	12.8%	1.2%	9.1%	3.7%
Widowed	4.1%	3%	-1.1%	6.1%	-3.1%

Health

Across the UK, the average 48.4% rated their health as Very Good, 33.6% as Good, 12.7% as Fair, 4% as Bad, and 1.2% as Very Bad.

Population age significantly impacts residents' health. Additionally, socioeconomic status plays a crucial role: higher income levels and lower poverty rates are linked to better health outcomes. Affluent areas benefit from higher living standards, access to private healthcare, and healthier lifestyle choices.

	2011	2021	10y change (pp)	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
Very good health	46.1%	46.3%	0.2%	48.4%	-2.1%
Good health	40.9%	37.2%	-3.7%	33.6%	3.6%
Fair health	9.9%	12.7%	2.8%	12.7%	0.0%
Bad health	2.8%	3.5%	0.7%	4.0%	-0.5%
Very bad health	0.2%	0.4%	0.2%	1.2%	-0.8%

Education and Qualifications

During the 2021 census, the educational qualifications of residents across the UK were as follows: 18.2% had no qualifications, 9.6% had 1-4 GCSEs, 13.4% had 5 or more GCSEs and 1-2 A/AS Levels, 16.9% had 2 or more A Levels, 33.8% held a degree (or equivalent), and 5.4% had completed an apprenticeship.

	2011	2021	10y change (pp)	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
No qualifications	14.2%	12.1%	-2.1%	18.2%	-6.1%
1-4 GCSEs or Equivalent	17.8%	11.2%	-6.6%	9.6%	1.6%
5 or more GCSEs, an A-Level or 1-2 AS Levels	15.2%	12.8%	-2.4%	13.4%	-0.6%
Apprenticeship	3.9%	4.2%	0.3%	5.3%	-1.1%
HNC, HND or 2+ A Levels	16.8%	17%	0.2%	16.9%	0.1%
Degree or Similar	27.9%	40.6%	12.7%	33.8%	6.8%
Other	4.1%	2.1%	-2.0%	2.8%	-0.7%

Culture

Ethnic Group

This area closely mirrors the overall ethnic composition of the UK, with 88.1% of the population identifying as white, with UK average of 81.4%.

	2011	2021	10y change (pp)	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
Bangladeshi	0.2%	0.2%	0.0%	1.1%	-0.9%
Chinese	1.3%	0.2%	-1.1%	0.7%	-0.5%
Indian	0%	2.9%	2.9%	3.1%	-0.2%
Pakistani	0%	0.4%	0.4%	2.7%	-2.3%
Other Asian	3%	2.7%	-0.3%	1.6%	1.1%
Black African	2.2%	1.9%	-0.3%	2.5%	-0.6%
Black Caribbean	0%	0.6%	0.6%	1.0%	-0.4%
Other Black	0.2%	0%	-0.2%	0.5%	-0.5%
Mixed White and Asian	0.2%	1.2%	1.0%	0.8%	0.4%
Mixed White and African	0%	0.6%	0.6%	0.4%	0.2%
Mixed White and Caribbean	0.4%	0%	-0.4%	0.9%	-0.9%
Mixed Other	0.6%	0.6%	0.0%	0.8%	-0.2%
White	91.4%	88.1%	-3.3%	81.4%	6.7%
Gypsy or Irish Traveller	0%	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
Arab	0.2%	0%	-0.2%	0.6%	-0.6%
Other	0.2%	0.6%	0.4%	1.6%	-1.0%

Country of Birth

In this area, 84.9% of the population were born in the United Kingdom, which is similar to the UK average of 83.2%.

	2011	2021	10y change (pp)	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
United Kingdom	85.6%	84.9%	-0.7%	83.2%	1.7%
European Union	4.7%	5.2%	0.5%	6.1%	-0.9%
Rest of Europe	1.3%	1.9%	0.6%	0.8%	1.1%
Africa	2.8%	3.3%	0.5%	2.7%	0.6%
Middle East and Asia	4.5%	3.8%	-0.7%	5.6%	-1.8%
The Americas and the Caribbean	0.9%	1%	0.1%	1.3%	-0.3%
Oceania	0.2%	0%	-0.2%	0.3%	-0.3%

Length of Residence

	2011	2021	10y change (pp)	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
Born in the UK	84.9%	85%	0.1%	83.2%	1.8%
10+ Years	1.7%	8.3%	6.6%	9.8%	-1.5%
5-10 Years	3.7%	2.9%	-0.8%	2.9%	0.0%
2-5 Years	2.4%	1.5%	-0.9%	2.2%	-0.7%
Less than 2 years	7.3%	2.3%	-5.0%	1.9%	0.4%

Passport Held

	2021	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
United Kingdom	79.3%	76.7%	2.6%
Ireland	0.4%	0.6%	-0.2%
France	0.4%	0.3%	0.1%
Germany	0.2%	0.2%	0.0%
Italy	1%	0.6%	0.4%
Portugal	0.2%	0.5%	-0.3%
Spain	0.4%	0.4%	0.0%
Lithuania	0.4%	0.3%	0.1%
Poland	0.8%	1.3%	-0.5%
Romania	0.2%	0.9%	-0.7%
Other EU countries	2.1%	1.5%	0.6%
Turkey	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
Other Europe	0.8%	0.2%	0.6%
Central and Western Africa	0.2%	0.3%	-0.1%
South and Eastern Africa	1.5%	0.2%	1.3%
Eastern Asia	0.2%	0.3%	-0.1%
Southern Asia	0.8%	1.2%	-0.4%
South-East Asia	1.2%	0.2%	1.0%
North America and the Caribbean	0.2%	0.3%	-0.1%
Central and South America	0.4%	0.2%	0.2%
No passport held	9.4%	13.5%	-4.1%

Religion

	2021	UK Average	postcode vs UK (pp)
No religion	50.5%	37.2%	13.3%
Christian	37.6%	46.2%	-8.6%
Buddhist	1.3%	0.5%	0.8%
Hindu	2.1%	1.7%	0.4%
Muslim	2.5%	6.5%	-4.0%
Sikh	0.4%	0.9%	-0.5%
Other religion	0.2%	0.6%	-0.4%
Not answered	5.4%	6.0%	-0.6%

Safety

Is Swales Drive Street dangerous?

Over the last 12 months, the overall crime rate around Swales Drive was 274.8 per 1,000 residents, which is 430.6% higher than the Leighton-Linslade North average. The most reported crime type was Violence and sexual offences.

Swales Drive has the 4th highest crime rate of 50 local areas in Leighton-Linslade North and the 22nd highest crime rate of 871 local areas in Central Bedfordshire .

Violent and sexual offences accounted for around 93.0 crimes per 1,000 residents and have been rising year on year. Over the last decade, overall crime has fallen by about -29.5%.

🔎 See full breakdown of local crime, hotspots & trends

Affluence

Household Income

Households in this area have a similar level level of wealth to the average household in England and Wales. 51% of analyzed areas in England and Wales have lower average household annual income than this area.

Average Household Income
£45,200

Income Rank
6/10

Household Income in LU7 8FH, Local Authority and Region

Deprivation

Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) - 7/10 (above average )
Indices of multiple deprivation (IMD) is used to classify the relative deprivation (a measure of poverty) of the area. It considers the following domains:
Income Deprivation Domain - 7/10 (above average )
The Income Deprivation Domain measures the percentage of people in the population who are experiencing poverty due to having a low income. It includes both those who are unemployed and those who are employed but earn very little (and who satisfy the respective means tests).
Employment Deprivation Domain - 6/10 (average )
The Employment Deprivation Domain measures the proportion of the working-age population in an area involuntarily excluded from the labour market. This includes people who would like to work but are unable to do so due to unemployment, sickness or disability, or caring responsibilities.
Education, Skills and Training Domain - 6/10 (average )
The Education, Skills, and Training Deprivation Domain measures the lack of education and skills in a local area. It has two parts: one for children and young people, and one for adults. The part for children and young people looks at their school achievements ('flow'), while the part for adults looks at the number of adults without qualifications ('stock').
Health Deprivation and Disability Domain - 6/10 (average )
The Health Deprivation and Disability Domain measures the risk of early death and poor quality of life due to bad physical or mental health. It looks at illness, disability, and early death, but not at behaviors or environments that might affect future health.
Crime Domain - 10/10 (very high )
The Crime Domain measures the risk of people and property being victims of crime in a local area.
Barriers to Housing and Services Domain - 4/10 (below average )
The Barriers to Housing and Services Domain measures how easy or hard it is to access housing and local services. It has two parts: one looks at how close local services are, and the other looks at issues like how affordable housing is.
Living Environment Deprivation Domain - 6/10 (average )
The Living Environment Deprivation Domain measures the quality of the local environment. It has two parts: the "indoors" part looks at housing quality, and the "outdoors" part looks at air quality and road traffic accidents.
Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) - 7/10 (above average )
The Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) measures how many children aged 0 to 15 live in low-income families. It is part of the Income Deprivation Domain, which looks at how many people in an area have low incomes. This includes both those who are unemployed and those who work but earn very little (and who satisfy the respective means tests).
Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI) - 7/10 (above average )
The Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index (IDAOPI) measures the percentage of people aged 60 or older who have low income. It is part of the Income Deprivation Domain, which looks at how many people in an area have low income, including both unemployed people and those with low-paying jobs (and who satisfy the respective means tests).

Property Prices

Average property prices on Swales Drive are based on 11 property sales since the beginning of 1995. Estimated property prices are calculated by adjusting the last sale price by current House Price Index for South Bedfordshire.
StreetScan downloads house price data directly from the HM Land Registry and uses it to create these statistics.

House Prices for Swales Drive, Leighton Buzzard, LU7 8FH

Estimated Average Property Prices for LU7 8FH

Average Price
£303,468

Semi-Detached
£303,468

Terraced
no sales

Detached
no sales

Flats/Maisonettes
no sales

Other
no sales

Estimated Average Property Prices for Swales Drive

Average Price
£460,996

Semi-Detached
£367,919

Terraced
no sales

Detached
£538,560

Flats/Maisonettes
no sales

Other
no sales

Property Prices Comparison

Latest Property Sales on Swales DriveStreet

Address	Sale Price	Sale Date	Price Estimate 2025
4 Swales Drive, Leighton Buzzard, Central Bedfordshire Semi-Detached, an established residential building	£255,000	2019-08-22	£317,239
4 Swales Drive, Leighton Buzzard, Central Bedfordshire Semi-Detached, an established residential building	£199,995	2015-08-14	£304,782
4 Swales Drive, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire Semi-Detached, an established residential building	£145,000	2005-04-08	£304,500
4 Swales Drive, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire Semi-Detached, a newly built property	£119,950	2002-06-24	£352,794

View All Property Sales and Other Statistics for LU7 8FH

Employment

LU7 8FH area has a high level of entrepreneurship. Only 23% of streets have higher percent of entrepreneur residents. 12% of population in this area is self-employed, while the average in the UK is 9.7%. High number of entrepreneurs usually leads to relatively high economic growth, higher paid jobs and better quality of life in the area.

Economic Activity

Full-Time Employee	213
Self-Employed	51
Part-Time Employee	42
Retired	42
Student (economically inactive)	20
Looking after home or family	17
Unemployed	16
Other	14
Long-Term Sick or disabled	13
Full-Time Student (with or without job)	0

Employment Industry

Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motor cycles	52
Manufacturing	37
Public administration and defence; compulsory social security	24
Human health and social work activities	21
Education	19
Transport and storage	19
Professional, scientific and technical activities	17
Construction	16
Administrative and support service activities	14
Other	14
Accommodation and food service activities	14
Information and communication	11
Financial and insurance activities	9
Real estate activities	2
Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities	2

Schools

Primary

	Ofsted Overall Effectiveness	Distance	Establishment Type	Has Nursery Classes	Gender	More Info
The Mary Bassett Lower School Bassett Road , LU7 1AR	3out of 4	291 yd	Community school	Yes	Mixed	More About School
Pulford CofE VA Lower School Pulford Road , LU7 1AB	4out of 4	442 yd	Voluntary aided school	Yes	Mixed	More About School
Clipstone Brook Lower School Brooklands Drive , LU7 3PG	3out of 4	791 yd	Community school	Yes	Mixed	More About School
The Rushmere Park Academy East Street , LU7 1EW	3out of 4	799 yd	Academy converter	Yes	Mixed	More About School
Leedon Lower School Highfield Road , LU7 3LZ	2out of 4	1,359 yd	Community school	No	Mixed	More About School

Secondary

	Ofsted Overall Effectiveness	Distance	Establishment Type	Has Nursery Classes	Gender	More Info
Cedars Upper School Mentmore Road , Linslade LU7 2AE	3out of 4	1,581 yd	Academy converter	Not Applicable	Mixed	More About School
Vandyke Upper School Vandyke Road , LU7 3DY	3out of 4	1,707 yd	Academy converter	Not Applicable	Mixed	More About School
The Cottesloe School Aylesbury Road , Wing LU7 0NY	3out of 4	5,452 yd	Foundation school	No	Mixed	More About School

Middle deemed secondary

	Ofsted Overall Effectiveness	Distance	Establishment Type	Has Nursery Classes	Gender	More Info
Leighton Middle School Church Square , LU7 1EX	3out of 4	364 yd	Community school	No	Mixed	More About School
Brooklands Middle School Brooklands Drive , LU7 3PF	3out of 4	1,101 yd	Academy converter	Not Applicable	Mixed	More About School
Gilbert Inglefield Academy Vandyke Road , LU7 3FU	3out of 4	1,496 yd	Academy converter	No	Mixed	More About School
Linslade School Mentmore Road , Linslade LU7 2PA	3out of 4	1,511 yd	Academy converter	Not Applicable	Mixed	More About School

Not applicable

	Ofsted Overall Effectiveness	Distance	Establishment Type	Has Nursery Classes	Gender	More Info
Oak Bank School Sandy Lane , LU7 3BE	4out of 4	2,312 yd	Academy special converter	Not Applicable	Mixed	More About School

School statistics for this postcode are based on Ofsted rankings.

Food and Drink

Restaurants, Cafes, Canteens

Business Name	Address	Distance
The Cottage Italian Bistro	19-21 Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard	36 yd
Amore Bakery Cafe	Unit 1, 2A Hockliffe Street	70 yd
Latte Dah Ltd	8-10 Peacock Mews, Hockliffe Street	72 yd
Martini Cafe	24 Market Square, Leighton Buzzard	102 yd
Mevan	6 Lake Street, Leighton Buzzard	122 yd

Pubs, Bars, Nightclubs

Business Name	Address	Distance
The Bald Buzzard	6 Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard	55 yd
The Picture House	8 Lake Street, Leighton Buzzard	133 yd
The Red Lion	1 North Street, Leighton Buzzard	147 yd
The Royal British Legion	The Bossard Hall, West Street	204 yd
The Craft Union Pub Company Ltd	The Sun, 42 Lake Street	235 yd

Takeaway, Sandwich Shops

Business Name	Address	Distance
North Sea Fish and Chips	9 North Street, Leighton Buzzard	144 yd
Leighton Grill	8 Rylands Mews, Lake Street	147 yd
Leighton Fried Chicken Ltd	15 North Street, Leighton Buzzard	148 yd
Amore Pizzeria lb Ltd	2 Hockliffe Street, Leighton Buzzard	150 yd
Pizza Plus	16 Market Square, Leighton Buzzard	165 yd

Supermarkets, Hypermarkets

Business Name	Address	Distance
Iceland	9-11 Market Square, Leighton Buzzard	140 yd
Wm Morrison Supermarkets Ltd	Lake Street, Leighton Buzzard	315 yd
Waitrose	9 Waterborne Walk, Leighton Buzzard	356 yd
Tesco	Vimy Road, Linslade	663 yd

Sport

Facility Name	Sport Objects	Distance
Colloseum Gym (Closed) Lake Street	health and fitness suite	179 yd
Leighton Middle School CHURCH SQUARE	grass pitches	449 yd
Leighton Buzzard Sports Association Ltd LAKE STREET	grass pitches, tennis courts	473 yd
Energie Fitness Club (Leighton Buzzard) UNIT 2 UNIT 2 LEIGHTON ROAD	health and fitness suite	718 yd
Vandyke Road Playing Field Vandyke Road	grass pitches	899 yd
Mentmore Park And Memorial Gardens Mentmore Road	grass pitches, tennis courts	980 yd
Brooklands Middle School Brooklands Drive	grass pitches, tennis courts	989 yd
Pages Park Billington Road	grass pitches, tennis courts	1,079 yd

Broadband

We haven't found any broadband statistics for this postcode.

Broadband statistics are based on Ofcom's Communications Market Report (CMR) 2022.