A Broad Rental Market Area is an area ‘within which a person could reasonably be expected to live having regard to facilities and services for the purposes of health, education, recreation, personal banking and shopping, taking account of the distance of travel, by public and private transport, to and from those facilities and services.’ A BRMA must contain ‘residential premises of a variety of types, including such premises held on a variety of tenures’, plus ‘sufficient privately rented residential premises, to ensure that, in the rent officer’s opinion, the LHA for the area is representative of the rents that a landlord might reasonably be expected to obtain in that area’. [Legislation - Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Amendment (No.2) Order 2008] SOUTH WEST HERTS Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA) implemented on 1st March 2011 Map of the BRMA Overview of the BRMA The above map shows the towns of Watford and Hemel Hempstead, the city of St Albans and the smaller surrounding towns and villages including Harpenden, Borehamwood, South Oxhey, Rickmansworth, Chorleywood, Berkhamsted and Flamsted within a boundary marked in red. Most of the area is in the county of Hertfordshire and is predominately urban around the main towns, with rural parts mainly on the northern peripheries. The BRMA measures approximately 15 miles north to south and 12 miles east to west. The town and borough of Watford, together with its urban surroundings of Bushey, South Oxhey, Chorleywood, Croxley Green and Abbots Langley, is within the top 50 largest urban areas in England. Watford is also Hertfordshire’s largest town and a dominant economic centre for the northern Home Counties. Hemel Hempstead was developed under the New Town Act 1946 which saw a number of towns re-generated and re-built after the World War II. Hemel Hempstead has developed into a significant industrial and business centre. One of Hertfordshire’s oldest towns, St Albans is famous for its Abbey and Roman ruins and is a popular London commuter base. The M1 runs north to south past Hemel Hempstead. It also provides a link with the M10 that leads to roads into St Albans. The M1’s link with the M25 provides access into Watford. The M25 runs east to west thus providing Chorleywood, Rickmansworth and London Colney with access to Watford and, via the M1, with Hemel Hempstead. The A4146 runs from the north-west into Hemel Hempstead. Several ‘A’ roads feed into St Albans and provide access from the north eastern peripheries. Similarly, ‘A’ roads in the south of the BRMA provide access into Watford. Various bus routes circulate through the area. There are a several rail links: from St Albans, Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, South Oxhey and Bushey to Watford; from Harpenden, Borehamwood and Radlett to St Albans. Identification of Health, Education, Recreation, Banking and Shopping (HERBS) The above map shows how the facilities and services (HERBS) are distributed. They are mainly concentrated in Watford, St Albans and Hemel Hempstead. Smaller clusters can be seen in Rickmansworth, Borehamwood, Berkhamsted and Harpenden. Accessibility to facilities and services (Information sourced from publicly available websites) Distance By Car (based on the quickest From To Time by Car Time By Bus Time By Train Remarks (where applicable) rather than the shortest route) Kimpton St Albans 8 21 28 Hemel Harpenden 8.2 21 38 Hempstead Harpenden St Albans 4.7 9 16 5 Hemel Markyate 10.9 21 34 Hempstead Markyate St Albans 8.9 17 24 Hemel Flamstead 9.8 20 26 Hempstead Flamstead St Albans 7.9 16 16 Hemel Little Gaddesden 6 15 19 Hempstead Kinsbourne Green St Albans 7 14 23 Codicote St Albans 13.4 24 60 Change of bus required Colney Heath Watford 12 27 70 Change of bus required Colney Heath St Albans 4.8 11 22 Radlett Watford 5.4 18 27 Borehamwood Watford 8.3 26 29 Oxhey Watford 2.7 12 12 6 Rickmansworth Watford 4.4 19 13 Hemel Bovingdon 4.6 12 14 Hempstead Hemel Berkhamsted 5.5 11 12 Hemsptead The above table shows the approximate distances in miles and journey times in minutes to Watford, Hemel Hempstead and St Albans from peripheral locations. Most journeys are under an hour, demonstrating the reasonableness of accessibility to the main facilities and services in the area. By implication the table also indicates that journeys to and from nearer destinations are also reasonable. Variety of Property Types and Tenures Variety of Property Types Total All Household Spaces (Total) 208737 In an Unshared Dwelling 208378 House or Bungalow (Subtotal) 164068 Detached 48385 Semi Detached 61486 Terrace or End Terrace 54197 Flat, Maisonette or Apartment (Subtotal) 43174 Flat, Maisonette or Apartment: In a Purpose-Built Block of Flats 36107 Flat, Maisonette or Apartment: Part of a Converted or Shared House 4668 Flat, Maisonette or Apartment: In a Commercial Building 2399 1136 Caravan or Other Mobile or Temporary Structure In a Shared Dwelling 359 Variety of Tenure Types All Households (Total) 203801 Owned (Subtotal) 150409 Owned: Owns outright 60399 Owned: Owns with a mortgage or loan 88905 Owned: Shared ownership 1104 Social rented (Subtotal) 35189 Social rented: Rented from Council (Local Authority) 25489 Social rented: Other social rented 9700 Private rented (Subtotal) 14186 The figures in bold in the above table show the number of houses and flats in the BRMA and how many of them are owned, socially rented and privately rented. The other figures show sub categories. The table demonstrates that the BRMA contains a variety of types of residential premises and that they are held on a variety of tenures. Note: The table was compiled by matching the Office of National Statistics 2001 Census data as closely as possible to the BRMA map boundary. Sufficient Privately Rented Premises The table shows 14186 privately rented premises in the BRMA. We would expect to collect approximately 20% of the private rented sector market; this would be about 2837 pieces of lettings information to include on our list of rents. This is considered sufficient privately rented residential premises to ensure that, in the Rent Officer’s opinion, the Local Housing Allowance for tenancies in the area is representative of the rents that a landlord might reasonably be expected to obtain in that area. .