East of England · Non-metropolitan district

Three Rivers

2026/27 view

Three Rivers · ONS E07000102

Financial position as at 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

View sources

COUNCIL AT A GLANCE

Who runs the council and its current position

80/ 100

COUNCILMETRICS FINANCIAL HEALTH SCORE

Good

Compared only with non-metropolitan district councils using central government returns.

164 councils in peer group Rank 18 of 164 High confidence 2024/25 outturn · 2026/27 Q1 debt How this is calculated

Reserves cover73

Debt burden80

Liquidity89

Debt direction83

YEAR-ON-YEAR CONTEXT Change from the previous reported period Each measure uses its own official reporting timetable.

Net debt £-27.45m 2026/27 Q1 vs 2025/26 Q4

−£4.68m 20.5%

Service expenditure £15.43m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

−£4.46m 22.4%

Unallocated reserves £4.90m 2024/25 vs 2023/24

+£376.0k 8.3%

FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL TREND

How this council's finances have changed

Official annual outturn. Each line uses its own scale so direction remains easy to read.

Through 2024/25

Service expenditure £15.43m

19.4%

Net revenue expenditure £12.88m

7.9%

Council Tax requirement £10.49m

15.5%

Unallocated reserves £4.90m

65.1%

COUNCILMETRICS COMMUNITY SCORE Share your experience 0 of 25 responses collected before results are published

Score this council

Political controlNot yet recordedAdministration not identified

Council leaderNot identifiedParty not identified

Resident population95,8072024 estimate

Latest net debt£-27.45m2026/27 Q1 quarter end

WASTE & RECYCLING

What happens to household waste?

Official Defra measures for Three Rivers, with like-for-like comparison against collection authorities.

2024/25

61.1%recycled

Household recycling rate

Recycling rate fell

0.8 percentage points vs 2023/24

3 of 196 peer authorities Peer median 42.1%

Residual waste315.1 kgper household+1.8 kg year on year

Waste collected330.5 kgper resident−6.9 kg year on year

Household waste31,694tonnes collected19,356 tonnes recycled

WHERE HOUSEHOLD WASTE WENT

Recycled versus residual waste

19,356 t recycled, composted or reused 12,338 t not recycled

RECYCLING RATE TREND

10 years of official data

61.1%

2015/162024/25

EDUCATION

Schools and education

Schools, pupil numbers and latest education outcomes across Three Rivers.

2024/25

SCHOOLS & PUPILS

Education at a glance

Explore schools

43 Open schools

18,542 Pupils

20,104 School places

92.2% Capacity utilisation

ATTAINMENT & OUTCOMES

Key Stage 4

Published outcomes for pupils living in Three Rivers.

Attainment 8

52.1

East of England 46.2

England 46.1

6.0 points above England

English & maths grade 5+

58.8%

East of England 45.9%

England 45.4%

13.4 percentage points above England

EBacc entry

57.6%

East of England 40.0%

England 40.5%

17.1 percentage points above England

PROGRESS

Progress 8

0.14

Latest published Progress 8 score, 2023/24.

A score of 0 represents the national average.

TREND

Attainment 8 over time

52.1 18/19

55.7 19/20

55.4 20/21

56.2 21/22

53.9 22/23

51.1 23/24

52.1 24/25

Education context

Three Rivers's latest Key Stage 4 outcomes are above both East of England and England benchmarks across all three headline measures.

Department for Education · Key Stage 4 performance · Pupil residency

HOUSING & AFFORDABILITY

Housing costs and local earnings

House prices and affordability for Three Rivers, based on the earnings of local residents.

2025

Median house price

£545,000

+ 15.3% over five years

Median resident earnings

£43,980

+ 16.0% over five years

House price to earnings

12.39×

Improved from 12.46× five years ago

PRIVATE RENTING

Average monthly private rent

Typical private rental cost across all property types in Three Rivers.

£1,820 / month

+ 2.6% in the last year

July 2026

Three Rivers

£1,820

+ 2.6%

East of England

£1,285

+ 3.7%

England

£1,451

+ 3.8%

Compared with East of England £535 more per month

Compared with England £369 more per month

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Housing affordability

Median house price as a multiple of median resident earnings. Lower is more affordable.

Three Rivers

12.39×

East of England

8.52×

England

7.64×

Compared with East of England Less affordable

Compared with England Less affordable

Source: Office for National Statistics · Housing affordability in England and Wales · House prices year ending September · Residence-based earnings

PLANNING & HOUSING DELIVERY

Is development moving through the system?

Quarterly planning decisions and the government's latest three-year Housing Delivery Test.

2026 Q1

Applications received226this quarter+9 vs 2025 Q4

Applications decided181this quarter−31 vs 2025 Q4

Outstanding applications—at quarter end

89.0%approved

Overall approval rate161 granted20 refused−2.1 pts vs previous quarter

DECISION TIMELINESS

Decisions made within time

98.9%

Rank 27 of 294 reporting authoritiesNational median 92.5%

0.3 percentage points higher than 2025 Q4

APPLICATION MIX

Performance by development type

TypeDecisionsApprovedIn time Major333.3%100.0% Minor2382.6%100.0% Other15591.0%98.7%

QUARTERLY FLOW

Applications through the system

Last 8 quarters

HOUSING DELIVERY TEST

Homes delivered against requirement

47%

Required1,910homes over three years

Delivered894homes over three years

100% requirement

Presumption in favourHDT 2025 government assessment

CRIME & POLICING

Police-recorded crime

Latest police-recorded crime figures for Three Rivers, excluding fraud.

Year ending Mar 2026

Recorded offences 5,019 Total police-recorded crime excluding fraud

Crime rate 52.4 offences per 1,000 residents

Annual change − 1.4% compared with the previous year

HOW DOES IT COMPARE?

Recorded crime rate

Offences per 1,000 residents

Three Rivers Your council

52.4 − 1.4%

East of England Region

68.4 − 0.1%

England National

83.4 − 1.5%

Three Rivers has a recorded crime rate 23.5% below East of England. It is 37.2% below the England rate.

OFFENCE PROFILE

Recorded crime by category

Hertfordshire

Violence 2,045

21.3 per 1,000 + 6.8%

Theft 1,663

17.4 per 1,000 − 9.3%

Public order 329

3.4 per 1,000 − 0.6%

Criminal damage 394

4.1 per 1,000 − 19.1%

Shoplifting 598

6.2 per 1,000 + 0.3%

Vehicle offences 339

3.5 per 1,000 − 19.1%

Burglary 261

2.7 per 1,000 − 15.3%

Drug offences 196

2.0 per 1,000 + 75.0%

ONS / Home Office · Police-recorded crime · Community Safety Partnership data

SCHOOLS & OFSTED

Schools and inspection outcomes

Open schools, pupil numbers and the latest published Ofsted inspection position for Three Rivers.

43 schools

Open schools 43

Pupils 18,542

School places 20,104

Capacity used 92.2%

Primary 28 schools

6,793 pupils

Other / specialist 8 schools

2,982 pupils

Secondary 7 schools

8,767 pupils

CURRENT POSITION

Inspection coverage

Latest Ofsted management information

Renewed framework 4

9.3% of open schools

Previous full framework 16

37.2% of open schools

Ungraded inspection 16

37.2% of open schools

No Ofsted record 6

14.0% of open schools

No published outcome 1

2.3% of open schools

RENEWED FRAMEWORK

Latest inspection standards

4 schools assessed

Achievement 4 assessed

Expected standard 4

Attendance & behaviour 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 1

Curriculum & teaching 4 assessed

Expected standard 4

Inclusion 4 assessed

Expected standard 2

Strong standard 2

Leadership & governance 4 assessed

Expected standard 3

Strong standard 1

Personal development 4 assessed

Expected standard 4

Safeguarding 4 assessed

Met 4

PREVIOUS FRAMEWORK

Legacy Ofsted ratings

These ratings apply only to schools whose latest full inspection remains under the previous Ofsted framework. Schools assessed under the renewed framework are shown separately above.

Outstanding 6

Good 4

Not judged 6

LOCAL SCHOOLS

School directory

View all schools

School	Phase	Pupils	Capacity	Latest Ofsted position
Abbots Langley School URN 117083 · WD5 0BQ	Primary	410	480	Ungraded inspection
Arnett Hills Junior Mixed and Infant School URN 117289 · WD3 4BT	Primary	198	210	Ungraded inspection
Bedmond Academy URN 144959 · WD5 0RD	Primary	100	240	Renewed framework
Chorleywood Primary School URN 117093 · WD3 5HR	Primary	205	210	Ungraded inspection
Christ Church Chorleywood CofE School URN 139507 · WD3 5SG	Primary	230	240	Outstanding
Divine Saviour Roman Catholic Primary School URN 146922 · WD5 0HW	Primary	206	210	Ungraded inspection
Eastbury Farm Primary School URN 117245 · HA6 3DG	Primary	346	345	Ungraded inspection
Greenfields Primary School URN 117193 · WD19 6QH	Primary	212	240	Renewed framework

School information: Get Information about Schools (GIAS). Inspection information: Ofsted monthly management information. Inspection frameworks differ over time, so renewed-framework standards and previous overall effectiveness grades are shown separately.

Published expenditure£0.00No spending file imported

Revenue budget£0.00Not imported

Reported overspend£0.00Not imported outturn

Contracts00 active

Identified suppliers0Normalised entities

PEOPLE AND PLACE

Population snapshot

View full People profile

Population 95,807 2024

East of England region 6,576,306

Five-year population change

+2,364 residents ↑ 2.5%

Three Rivers +2.5%

East of England +4.8%

England +4.3%

Growth context

Three Rivers's population grew over five years. Its change was 2.3 percentage points below the East of England and 1.7 percentage points below England.

2019–2024 ONS mid-year estimates

Population estimates and labour-market measures from ONS/Nomis.Official profile

BENEFITS & FINANCIAL PRESSURE

How is Universal Credit changing in Three Rivers?

People receiving Universal Credit and how the caseload has changed over the latest 24 months.

DWP · May 2026

PEOPLE ON UNIVERSAL CREDIT 6,885 7.2% of the 2024 resident population May 2026

CHANGE IN 12 MONTHS +6.6% +429 people

LATEST MONTHLY CHANGE +0.8% +55 since April 2026

LOCAL CONTEXT

Universal Credit recipients as a share of population

Comparison using 2024 resident population estimates.

May 2026

Three Rivers LOCAL AUTHORITY

7.2%

East of England REGION

10.3%

England COUNTRY

12.3%

Percentage of the resident population receiving Universal Credit. This is not an unemployment rate.

24-MONTH TREND

People receiving Universal Credit

Monthly caseload recorded on the DWP Universal Credit system.

June 2024 May 2026

6,885 6,263 5,640

June 2024 May 2026

What does this measure?

Universal Credit provides financial support to people who are on a low income or out of work. These figures count people receiving Universal Credit, not households and not the number of people who are unemployed.

DWP Stat-Xplore

HOUSING LICENSING

HMOs and property licensing

Coverage not assessedNational HMO explorer

Licensed HMOsAwaiting registerOnly licensed properties will be counted

Identifiable HMO expenditureNot identifiableNot separately described in published transactions

Inspection and enforcement dataAwaiting dataNo activity source imported yet

Coverage note

A licensed HMO register has not yet been located for this council. CouncilMetrics does not estimate HMO expenditure from broad housing or social-care descriptions.

FINANCE

How this council raises and spends money

Comparable official outturn for 2024/25, reported to central government.

MHCLG official outturn

Total service expenditure

£15.43m 2024/25 actual outturn

Net revenue expenditure

£12.88m 2024/25 actual outturn

Council Tax requirement

£10.49m 2024/25 actual outturn

Unallocated reserves

£4.90m 2024/25 actual outturn

Service expenditure per resident £161

Median for councils of the same type £166 2.7% below peer median

2024/25 SERVICE SPENDING

Where the money was spent

Net current expenditure after service income.

Actual outturn

Environmental and regulatory services Gross £11.02m · Income £4.62m

£6.40m

Housing Gross £5.75m · Income £2.58m

£3.17m

Central services Gross £11.67m · Income £8.86m

£2.81m

Planning and development Gross £3.38m · Income £1.10m

£2.28m

Culture and related services Gross £4.55m · Income £2.89m

£1.66m

Highways and transport Gross £1.11m · Income £708.0k

£398.0k

Public health Gross £72.0k · Income £72.0k

£0.00

Other services Gross £296.0k · Income £1.58m

£-1.28m

CORE FUNDING

Selected funding sources

Major financing lines in the central return.

Council Tax requirement£10.49m

Retained business rates£4.65m

Revenue Support Grant£79.0k

UNALLOCATED RESERVES

Financial buffer

General unallocated reserves during the year.

Opening £5.03m

Closing £4.90m

£123.0k decrease during 2024/25

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Revenue Outturn RS and RSX · values shown in pounds Official dataset

BORROWING AND INVESTMENTS

Balance-sheet position

A point-in-time view of debt and liquid investments at the end of 2026/27 Q1.

MHCLG quarterly return

Outstanding borrowing

£8.00m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Investments and cash

£35.45m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt

£-27.45m 2026/27 Q1 quarter end

Net debt per resident

£-287 Per resident using latest population

This council's net debt per resident £-287

Median for non-metropolitan district councils £95 400.9% lower than the peer median

QUARTERLY TREND

Borrowing, investments and net debt

2020/21 Q1 to 2026/27 Q1.

£4.68m quarterly reduction

2020/21 Q12021/22 Q32023/24 Q12024/25 Q32026/27 Q1

Latest quarterly movement −£4.68m −20.5%

Change across the series −£17.62m Net debt since 2020/21 Q1

What changed?

Net debt reduced during the latest quarter as the balance between borrowing and investments improved.

BORROWING COMPOSITION

Where the borrowing sits

PWLB, other longer-term borrowing and short-term borrowing.

2026/27 Q1

Public Works Loan Board£8.00m

MHCLG Borrowing and Investment live table · 2026/27 Q1 · values shown in pounds Official dataset

COUNCIL TAX & COLLECTION

How much council tax remains unpaid?

Council tax collection, outstanding arrears and write-offs reported to central government.

MHCLG 2025/26

Outstanding arrears

£8.09m Total outstanding at financial year-end

Collection rate

97.45% Collected against the in-year debit

Council tax written off

£435,000 Written off during the financial year

Council tax collected

£89.10m Receipts relating to the financial year

FIVE-YEAR TREND

How has unpaid council tax changed?

Outstanding arrears at each financial year-end.

2021/22–2025/26

OUTSTANDING ARREARS 2025/26

£8.09m

CHANGE SINCE 2021/22

+ 74.3%

+ £3.45m

ENGLAND CHANGE

+49.5%

Figures represent total outstanding council tax balances, including arrears carried forward from earlier years. Changes in council boundaries can affect historical comparisons.

OUTSTANDING ARREARS

Where does the unpaid council tax come from?

Breakdown of outstanding balances at the end of 2025/26.

£8.09m outstanding

CURRENT FINANCIAL YEAR £2.46m

30.4% of outstanding arrears

EARLIER FINANCIAL YEARS £5.63m

69.6% of outstanding arrears

Current-year arrears Earlier-years arrears

Earlier-years arrears represent unpaid council tax carried forward from previous financial years. These figures do not identify individual households or establish whether balances are recoverable.

COLLECTION PERFORMANCE

How does this council compare?

England 2025/26

In-year collection rate 97.45%

England average: 95.60% · 1.85 percentage points above England

Outstanding arrears include unpaid balances from earlier financial years and are not the same as council tax uncollected during 2025/26. Monetary values are rounded for display. Official MHCLG source

SPENDING

Published directorate expenditure

Explore all 0 records

CONTRACTS

Largest contracts

Explore all 0 contracts

Contract	Supplier	Status	End date	Original value

SUPPLIERS

Largest supplier exposure

Dated transactions

Supplier	Payments	Published expenditure

PROVENANCE

Source documents

39 imported

Document	Dataset	Period	Status	Official source
Housing Delivery Test 2025 results — Three Rivers	mhclg housing delivery test	HDT 2025–HDT 2025	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application decisions (PS2) — Three Rivers	mhclg planning ps2	1979 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG district planning application statistics (PS1) — Three Rivers	mhclg planning ps1	1996 Q2–2026 Q1	imported	Open
Defra local authority waste statistics — Three Rivers District Council	defra local authority waste	2010/11–2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2023/24 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2023/24 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2023/24	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2022/23 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2022/23 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2022/23	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2021/22 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2021/22 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2021/22	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2020/21 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2020/21 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2020/21	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q4 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q3 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q2 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2025/26 Q1 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2025/26 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q4 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q3 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q2 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2024/25 Q1 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2024/25 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q4 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q3 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q2 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2023/24 Q1 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2023/24 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q4 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q3 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q2 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2022/23 Q1 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2022/23 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q4 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q3 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q2 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2021/22 Q1 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2021/22 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q4 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q4	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q3 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q3	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q2 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q2	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2020/21 Q1 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2020/21 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Borrowing and Investment 2026/27 Q1 — Three Rivers	mhclg borrowing investment	2026/27 Q1	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Service Summary 2024/25 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rsx	2024/25	imported	Open
MHCLG Revenue Outturn Summary 2024/25 — Three Rivers	mhclg revenue outturn rs	2024/25	imported	Open

How to read these figures and the Financial Health Score

Budget summaries and financial positions retain the reporting year and assurance status of their original source. Draft or unaudited values are labelled separately from audited outturn figures. The Financial Health Score uses reserves cover, net debt per resident, liquidity and quarterly debt direction from central MHCLG returns. Each component is converted to a percentile among councils of the same authority type; available components are weighted 35%, 30%, 20% and 15% respectively. A score is published only when at least three components covering 65% of the weighting are available. It is a comparative financial indicator, not an assessment of service quality or political performance.