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On Gaping Lane, in Hitchin Town & West
What it's like at SG5 2JQ: every home that has sold on Gaping Lane since 1995 and who owns them, what's happening down the road, crime on the street, a day in the life, history on the doorstep and what's changing nearby. Moving, buying, selling, improving or investing? Pick a lens above for what matters to you.
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Compared with all 7,264 neighbourhoods in England and Wales (council well-being: all councils). Open a tab below for the detail.
ORR, DfE, police.uk, OS Terrain 50 and Open Greenspace, Forestry Commission, Defra noise maps (England), Xoserve. Every distance: Moving; radon, ground and flood checks: Buying.
3 homes on the street extended (energy certificates).
Sales and extensions on Gaping Lane; new homes, planning permissions and schools within 1 km over the last five years. Everything changing within 2 km.
None of the 43 homes on the street is owned by a company.
| 2, Gaping LaneTerraced | Nov 2016 | £392,000 | 67 m² | £5,851/m² | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4, Gaping LaneTerraced | Feb 2022 | £455,000 | 72 m² | £6,319/m² | 6 |
| 6, Gaping LaneTerraced | Jul 2019 | £342,500 | 70 m² | £4,893/m² | 4 |
| 8, Gaping LaneTerraced | May 2021 | £420,000 | 72 m² | £5,833/m² | 2 |
| 10, Gaping LaneTerraced | Jul 2006 | £220,000 | – | – | 3 |
| 32, Gaping LaneSemi-detached | Mar 2025 | £649,000 | 104 m² | £6,240/m² | 5 |
| 34, Gaping LaneTerraced | Aug 2002 | £170,000 | 122 m² | £1,393/m² | 2 |
| 36, Gaping LaneTerraced | Oct 1997 | £85,000 | – | – | 1 |
| 38, Gaping LaneTerraced | Oct 2010 | £330,000 | 109 m² | £3,028/m² | 2 |
| 40, Gaping LaneTerraced | Jan 2012 | £374,995 | 116 m² | £3,233/m² | 3 |
| 44, Gaping LaneTerraced | Oct 1997 | £69,995 | 123 m² | £569/m² | 1 |
From HM Land Registry sale records (standard sales) and energy certificates. Tap a home for its full history.
Plenty of people here don't commute at all: 45% of working residents mostly worked from home at the 2021 census.
The nearest station is Hitchin, a short drive or bike ride (1.6 km), with 2.9m journeys a year; its busiest route is to London St Pancras International.
The nearest bus stop is West Hill, 250 m away, with a bus about every 8 minutes on weekdays (routes 81, 101, 100, 89); 11 departures an hour from the 2 stops within a 5-minute walk.
Plenty of jobs are close by: somewhere with 5,000 or more jobs (a town centre, business park or big hospital) is about 13 minutes away by public transport or on foot.
Central London is 50 km away as the crow flies.
The nearest primary school is Samuel Lucas Primary School, a few minutes' walk (under 50 m); 75% met the expected standard.
The nearest secondary is Hitchin Boys' School, 600 m away; Attainment 8: 57.1 · 19.7% of GCSEs at 8–9.
The nearest supermarket is Waitrose, 250 m away; Sushi Daily (250 m) for top-ups.
The nearest GP surgery is Bancroft Medical Centre (700 m), with Boots the closest pharmacy (600 m).
For a haircut, Buccis Hair Design Centre is 550 m away.
The nearest full A&E is Lister Hospital, 5.7 km away, rated requires improvement by the CQC.
At its trust, 47% of major A&E patients were seen within 4 hours in September 2026 (the NHS standard is 95%), and 65% of people waiting for planned treatment had waited under 18 weeks (typical wait 13 weeks).
Evenings out are on the doorstep: 69 restaurants and cafés and 17 pubs and bars in the neighbourhood.
Christchurch Open Church is the closest café or restaurant (250 m), and The Highlander the nearest pub (400 m).
Crime is around the national middle: about 100 per 1,000 residents a year.
There are 174 listed buildings.
It's a mix of homes: 31% flats and 25% detached houses.
The typical home here was built in 1965-1972.
It's growing: about 150 new homes were completed in 2021–2025.
The nearest park is Butts Close, 350 m away; for exercise, Hitchin Swimming Centre (450 m).
Air quality is around the national middle (nitrogen dioxide 8.3 µg/m³).
For holidays, London Luton is 10 km away.
Most households own their home, 15% rent privately.
It's highly educated: 44% of adults have a degree.
53 places on this map are within about a 10-minute walk.
Walking times are estimates from straight-line distance. Food businesses from the FSA food hygiene register; schools from the DfE register; nurseries from Ofsted's childcare register; care homes from the Care Quality Commission; pools, sports halls, tennis and golf from Sport England Active Places (contains data © Sport England); everything else © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Map © OpenFreeMap, OpenMapTiles, OpenStreetMap contributors.
Hitchin constituency: Alistair Strathern MP (Labour), since October 2023. 2024 general election: Lab gain from Con, majority 8,109 (15.4%), turnout 69%. Vote shares: Labour 44%, Conservative 29%, Reform UK 13%, Liberal Democrat 9%.
17 new homes, planning permissions and school changes on record within 2 km, plus energy projects, road works, storm overflows and major infrastructure. Everything changing near SG5 2JQ →
Written from the figures on this page: Census 2021, DfT journey times (2019), NaPTAN/ORR, Ofsted, CQC, FSA, police.uk and planning registers. Figures describe the neighbourhood around the street.
No crimes recorded "on or near" Gaping Lane in the last 12 months.
On this street: 0 of 34 homes with certificates have solar panels, 0 a heat pump, and 7 are heated by something other than mains gas.
| Neighbourhood | Council | England and Wales | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homes with solar panels | 1.0% | 1.0% | 1.2% |
| Heated by a heat pump | 0.5% | 1.5% | 1.0% |
| Mains gas | 76.9% | 82.2% | 84.0% |
| Oil or LPG | 0.4% | 4.1% | 4.1% |
| Electric heating | 19.7% | 11.6% | 8.3% |
| Community heating | 2.3% | 0.3% | 2.1% |
From each home's latest energy certificate, so panels or heat pumps fitted since aren't counted and the shares are lower than today's real figures. Compare areas in the data explorer.
Nearest: The Serpentine - Hyde Park · about 62 min
Nearest: Leighton Buzzard Light Railway · about 39 min
The most notable of each. Rough times by car in free-flowing traffic, between neighbourhood centres. Check opening times before you travel.
National infrastructure projects and headline schemes only, not local planning applications. See them all on a map.