STRATFORD district has seen the highest population growth out of all local authorities in England and Wales.
The population is estimated to have increased by 16.8 per cent between 2013 and 2023 to 141,929. The average growth across the rest of the country is 6.9 per cent.
This is according to the newly released State of the District report that covers many different areas from health to the economy.
Other key findings included a much older population than the average, the lowest crime rates in Warwickshire and the highest new dwelling completion rates in the whole of the country.
The report reveals that the population is heavily weighted towards the older ages groups, with almost half the district’s population – 47 per cent – aged 50 or older. This is much higher than the figure of 38 per cent aged 50 or over for England and
Wales.
According to the Valuation Office list, there were 66,405 properties in the district at the end of March 2024. Of these, the most common dwelling type is a detached house.
The housing stock available does not follow the same pattern as Warwickshire or England, as Stratford has more detached houses and fewer flats/maisonettes than the Warwickshire or English average.
The median house price for the district was £375,000 in the year to end March 2023 – 27 per cent above the Warwickshire median of £295,000, and 29 per cent above the England median of £290,000.
The median overall monthly private rent payable in the district in the year to end-March 2023 was £875. This was the third highest rent across the West Midlands, with Solihull and Warwick higher at £950 and £945 respectively.
A total net of 1,435 new dwellings were added to the housing stock in 2022/23.
This represented 197 per cent of the target for total new dwelling completions in 2022/23 – 705 over the target of 730.
This was the highest figure of net completions of all district authorities in 2022-23.
In 2022/23, affordable housing made up 38 per cent of net new dwellings.
The total number of recorded crimes in the district in the year to July 2024 was 7,904. This is a rate of 60 crimes per 1,000 people, which is the lowest rate across Warwickshire
The most prevalent crimes in the district were violent and sexual offences.
And people in the district are generally in better health than average. Life expectancy in 2022 was 85.2 years for women and 80.9 years for men.
