Standing view · housing · Dacorum
improving, held with established confidence, formed on 31 August 2026 from movements in 2026-07.
Children in temporary accommodation in Dacorum rose to 341 in the first quarter of 2026, while households served a no-fault eviction notice and owed a prevention duty fell to 16. In the same quarter 210 initial assessments were carried out and 207 households were owed a prevention or relief duty. The average house price was £458,620 in May 2026, and rents were steady: a three-bedroom home cost £1,640 a month in February, a two-bedroom home £1,363 in March and a flat or maisonette £1,238 in April.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Dacorum. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Children in temporary accommodation | 2026-Q1 | deteriorating |
| Prevention duty, section 21 notice | 2026-Q1 | improving |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| Average private rent, three bedrooms | 2026-02 | — |
| Initial assessments | 2026-Q1 | falling |
| Owed a prevention or relief duty | 2026-Q1 | falling |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-03 | — |
| Average private rent, flat or maisonette | 2026-04 | — |
| Average house price | 2026-05 | — |