Alston

What is it like to live in Alston?

Homes sold for a typical £177,500 in the 12 months to August 2026. At 33 of the 63 postcodes Ofcom reports on, every home and business can get gigabit broadband. The Environment Agency counts 1 home or business at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, at 2 of its 63 postcodes. It has 1 primary school and 1 secondary school at its postcodes. One GP practice is at its postcodes. The nearest railway station is Alston, 400 metres from the middle of its postcodes in a straight line.

We don't rate places; here are the figures so you can judge.

Source: HM Land Registry, Ofcom, the Environment Agency, the Department for Education, NHS England and the Department for Transport, as each section of this page says. See all our data sources

What do homes cost in Alston?

Homes in Alston sold for a typical £177,500 in the 12 months to August 2026, across 9 sales, HM Land Registry's figures show. The 12 months before gave £153,500 from 14 sales. With fewer than 30 sales a year, a change can come from which homes happened to sell, so we do not give one.

• Detached 4 sales, too few to price
• Semi-detached 1 sale, too few to price
• Terraced 3 sales, too few to price
• Flat or maisonette 1 sale, too few to price

Across the whole CA9 district, Alston's main postcode district: a typical £230,000.

Sales at the postcodes ONS places in Alston: standard sales of homes at market value. A typical price is the median, the middle sale. Sales take weeks to be registered, so the last month or two are incomplete. Each postcode page gives the figure for its own postcode sector.

Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, files dated 28 September 2026. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2021. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

Are new homes being built in Alston?

None of the 63 postcodes now in use in Alston came into use in January 2020 or later, ONS says. In the 12 months to August 2025, 0 of the 14 homes sold in Alston were newly built (0%), HM Land Registry's records show; across the CA9 district, 0%.

New homes among the homes sold

Standard sales of homes at market value that HM Land Registry marks as newly built. New homes take longer to be registered than other sales, so the latest 12 months count fewer of them than were sold. A share is given from 5 sales or more.

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026; HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, files dated 28 September 2026. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2021, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

What broadband can you get in Alston?

Ofcom reports on 63 of the 63 postcodes in Alston. At 33 of them every home and business can get gigabit broadband.

Ofcom gives each postcode's share of homes and businesses, not how many there are, so these count postcodes. Each postcode page has its own figures. A provider's checker answers for one address.

Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations, Spring 2026, data for January 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

Is Alston at risk of flooding?

2 of the 63 postcodes in Alston have a home or business in an area at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, the Environment Agency says. At those, it puts 1 home or business in an area at high or medium risk.

High: 3.3% or more a year (1 in 30). Medium: 1% to 3.3% a year. Low: 0.1% to 1% a year. Very low: under 0.1% a year (1 in 1,000). Each band is the chance of flooding in any one year.

Homes and businesses in an area at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, as the Environment Agency counts them, added up over the postcodes. It is for the land, not each building, and leaves out surface water, groundwater and sewers. Each postcode page has its own figures and its flood warning areas.

Source: Environment Agency, Risk of Flooding from Rivers and Sea (postcodes in areas at risk), published 6 July 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

Which schools are in Alston?

The open schools at the postcodes in Alston. A school for ages 4 to 18 is listed under both. Distances are straight lines from the middle of its postcodes. Distance is not a catchment: each council sets its own admission rules. Special schools and alternative provision, which children join by referral, are not listed.

Source: Department for Education, Get Information about Schools, read 17 October 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. Each school opens its own record there. How we use it

How far is the station from Alston?

The nearest railway station to the centre point of the postcodes in Alston is Alston Rail Station, 400 m away in a straight line.

• Alston Rail Station Railway station 400 mWalk
• Kirkhaugh Rail Station Railway station 4.3 kmCycle
• Lintley Rail Station Railway station 5.6 kmDrive
• Alston (South Tynedale Railway) Underground, metro or tram 400 mWalk

Straight-line distances from the centre point, not routes. Walk: under 1.2 km. Cycle: 1.2 to 5 km. Drive: further.

Straight-line distances from the middle of the postcodes, not routes. Each postcode page lists its own nearest stations and bus stops. The Department for Transport's register does not say how often services run.

Source: Department for Transport, NaPTAN, read 17 October 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

Which GP surgeries are in Alston?

The GP practices at the postcodes in Alston. Each practice sets the area it takes patients from, so check with it before registering.

• Alston Medical Practice Phone 01434 381214 200 mWalk

Source: NHS England, Organisation Data Service (GP practices), read 17 October 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

Is Alston safe? Crime recorded around it

Police.uk records 106 crimes and reports of anti-social behaviour within a mile of the middle of the postcodes in Alston over the 12 months from September 2025 to August 2026. August 2026 is the latest month it has published. These are counts, not a rate: we hold no count of the people who live, work or pass through, so we do not say whether a place is safe.

Each month, September 2025 to August 2026

By kind, over the 12 months

Also: anti-social behaviour 1, drugs 1, possession of weapons 1.

Police.uk says its locations "always represent the approximate location of a crime". Each crime is moved to the nearest of a fixed list of map points, each over a street centre, a public place or a commercial premises, chosen so that every point covers at least eight addresses or none. A mile is a wide circle: in a town it takes in the centre and its shops, where much crime is recorded.

Source: Police.uk (data.police.uk), data to August 2026, from its download of 30 September 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it

Who runs Alston?

Council

Westmorland and Furness

Parliamentary constituency

Penrith and Solway

Police force area

Cumbria

Region

North West

Country

England

MP

Markus Campbell-Savours (Labour)

All 63 postcodes here share these. Wards differ: check a postcode for yours. What council am I in?

Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026. The MP: UK Parliament, read 14 October 2026. See all our data sources