Standing view · housing · Forest of Dean
improving, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-08.
House prices in Forest of Dean have been rising, and the homelessness side reads well too. Households in bed and breakfast stood at 16 in the first quarter of 2026, recorded as favourable against the usual pattern for its quarter, with prevention duty owed at 64. Homes sold numbered 84 in February 2026 and 76 in March. Average private rent was 800 for two bedrooms in February 2026 and 792 in March, 904 for semi-detached in May and 594 for one bedroom in August 2026. The bed and breakfast figure is the directional reading; the rest gives the market around it.
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 Forest of Dean. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Households in bed and breakfast | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Homes sold | 2026-02 | falling |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-02 | — |
| Prevention duty owed | 2026-Q1 | rising |
| Homes sold | 2026-03 | falling |
| Average private rent, two bedrooms | 2026-03 | — |
| Average private rent, semi-detached | 2026-05 | — |
| Average private rent, one bedroom | 2026-08 | — |