Colchester
Colchester is covered by postcode districts CO1, CO2, CO3, CO4, CO6 and CO7. It is mostly in the Colchester council area: 3,077 of its 3,105 postcodes. The others are in Tendring.
Every postcode in Colchester, by flood risk
- A home or business at high risk: 17
- At medium risk at worst: 25
- At low risk at worst: 54
- At very low risk only: 64
- Not on the at-risk list: 2,945
- Outline: where 5 or more postcodes at high or medium risk lie together
Of the 3,105 postcodes in Colchester that ONS places, 17 have a home or business at high risk, 25 are at medium risk at worst, 54 are at low risk at worst, 64 are at very low risk only and 2,945 are not on the Environment Agency's at-risk list.
Each mark is a postcode's centre point as ONS gives it, not a building. Press one to see its postcode and open its page. A dashed outline shows where 5 or more lie within 150 metres of each other. It is not a boundary, and no boundary is drawn. Where marks overlap, the one first in the key is drawn; the counts include every postcode.
The middle of its postcodes: latitude 51.8899, longitude 0.8968. Open this area on OpenStreetMap
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026, the centre point of each postcode; flood risk: Environment Agency, published 6 July 2026; roads, rivers and built-up areas: Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Drawn by us. Street map: Ordnance Survey, OS Open Zoomstack, Open Government Licence v3.0, drawn with MapLibre. How we use them
The postcodes at high risk
17 postcodes here have a home or business at high risk. These are the 12 with the most homes and businesses at that risk.
Beside each: how many of its homes and businesses the Environment Agency puts at that risk.
Where the postcodes at high or medium risk lie together
- 8 postcodes at high or medium risk, outlined on the map. CO1 2UF, is the one with most homes and businesses at high risk.
- 6 postcodes at high or medium risk, outlined on the map. CO1 2YU, is the one with most homes and businesses at high risk.
- 5 postcodes at high or medium risk, outlined on the map. CO1 1XZ, is the one with most homes and businesses at high risk.
- 5 postcodes at high or medium risk, outlined on the map. CO4 3ZA, is the one with most homes and businesses at high risk.
What is it like to live in Colchester?
Homes sold for a typical £305,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, no change on the 12 months before. At 2,277 of the 3,027 postcodes Ofcom reports on, every home and business can get gigabit broadband. The Environment Agency counts 741 homes and businesses at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, at 160 of its 3,105 postcodes. It has at least 6 primary schools, 2 secondary schools and 2 all-through schools at its postcodes. At least 5 GP practices are at its postcodes. The nearest railway station is Colchester Town, 650 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 Colchester?
Homes in Colchester sold for a typical £305,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, across 1,461 sales, no change on the 12 months before, HM Land Registry's figures show.
- Detached £420,000 379 sales
- Semi-detached £325,000 418 sales
- Terraced £265,000 367 sales
- Flat or maisonette £170,000 297 sales
Each bar is that kind's typical price, against the most expensive kind here.
Across the whole CO4 district, Colchester's main postcode district: a typical £325,000.
Sales at the postcodes ONS places in Colchester: 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 Colchester?
104 of the 3,105 postcodes now in use in Colchester came into use in January 2020 or later, ONS says. In the 12 months to August 2025, 56 of the 1,767 homes sold in Colchester were newly built (3%), HM Land Registry's records show; across the CO4 district, 6%.
The newest postcodes
A new postcode is often a new street or estate, but Royal Mail also makes new postcodes when it reorganises old ones, so not every one means new homes. Only postcodes still in use are counted.
New homes among the homes sold
| Period | In Colchester | Across the CO4 district |
|---|---|---|
| The 12 months to August 2026 | 9 of 1,461 (Under 1%) | 11 of 535 (2%) |
| The 12 months to August 2025 | 56 of 1,767 (3%) | 42 of 719 (6%) |
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 Colchester?
Ofcom reports on 3,027 of the 3,105 postcodes in Colchester. At 2,277 of them every home and business can get gigabit broadband, and at 2 some cannot get decent broadband (10 Mbit/s).
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.
Check one address on Ofcom's checkerSource: Ofcom, Connected Nations, Spring 2026, data for January 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it
Is Colchester at risk of flooding?
160 of the 3,105 postcodes in Colchester 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 741 homes and businesses 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 Colchester?
The open schools at the postcodes in Colchester (the first 8 primaries by distance from its middle). 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.
Primary
- St John's Green Primary School450 m 591 pupils, 630 places
- Colchester Prep & High School550 m 280 pupils, 558 places
- North Primary School and Nursery650 m 458 pupils, 420 places
- St Thomas More's Catholic Primary School, Colchester800 m 209 pupils, 210 places
- Kingswode Hoe School1.0 km 167 pupils, 147 places
- St James the Great Church of England Primary School1.0 km 438 pupils, 420 places
- Hamilton Primary School1.1 km 420 pupils, 420 places
- St Mary's School for Girls1.3 km 424 pupils, 600 places
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 Colchester?
The nearest railway station to the centre point of the postcodes in Colchester is Colchester Town Rail Station, 650 m away in a straight line.
- Colchester Town Rail Station Railway station 650 mWalk
- Colchester Rail Station Railway station 1.2 kmCycle
- Hythe (Essex) Rail Station Railway station 2.2 kmCycle
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 Colchester?
The GP practices at the postcodes in Colchester, the first 5 by distance from its middle. Each practice sets the area it takes patients from, so check with it before registering.
- Beacon House Ministries Phone 01206 761960 300 mWalk
- Colchester Medical Practice Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report June 2017, over 3 years old · Phone 01206 866626 850 mWalk
- East Hill Surgery Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report July 2016, over 3 years old · Phone 01206 866133 850 mWalk
- Creffield Medical Group Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report May 2016, over 3 years old · Phone 01206 570371 950 mWalk
- Abbey Field Medical Centre Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report August 2025 · Phone 01206 517100 1.4 kmCycle
Source: NHS England, Organisation Data Service (GP practices), read 17 October 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it
Is Colchester safe? Crime recorded around it
Police.uk records 6,062 crimes and reports of anti-social behaviour within a mile of the middle of the postcodes in Colchester 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
- 466 September 2025
- 503 October 2025
- 446 November 2025
- 411 December 2025
- 407 January 2026
- 458 February 2026
- 535 March 2026
- 535 April 2026
- 493 May 2026
- 585 June 2026
- 647 July 2026
- 576 August 2026
By kind, over the 12 months
Also: burglary 114, robbery 88, other crime 86, bicycle theft 75, theft from the person 59, possession of weapons 52.
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.
Crime around one postcodeSource: 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 Colchester?
- Councils
- Colchester (3,077) and Tendring (28)
- County council
- Essex
- Parliamentary constituencies
- Colchester (2,549), Witham (282) and Harwich and North Essex (274)
- Police force area
- Essex
- Region
- East of England
- Country
- England
Where the place crosses a boundary, a row lists each side with its number of postcodes. Check a postcode for its own. What council am I in?
Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Postcode Directory, August 2026, loaded 20 October 2026. See all our data sources
Moving to Colchester
Who to tell and what to sort out in your first week. Most of Colchester is in Colchester; near its edge, check which council a postcode is in.
- Tell Colchester about council tax Council tax, on new.colchester.gov.uk
- Register to vote at the new address Register to vote on GOV.UK
- Register with a GP practice The GP practices in Colchester
- Take meter readings on the day you move in
- Power cut? Call 105. It is free. About 105, the power cut number
- Find out your bin day Find your rubbish collection day on GOV.UK
Colchester postcodes
3,105 postcodes in use in Colchester, by district:
Those districts are all in the CO postcode area.
Check a Colchester postcode
Enter a full postcode to see its ward, its flood risk, house prices in its sector and its nearest schools.
Do not know the postcode? What is my postcode?
Places near Colchester
With the typical price of a home in each, to set beside Colchester's £305,000. Distances are straight lines between the middles of each place's postcodes.
Questions about Colchester
- What is it like to live in Colchester?
- Homes sold for a typical £305,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, no change on the 12 months before. At 2,277 of the 3,027 postcodes Ofcom reports on, every home and business can get gigabit broadband. The Environment Agency counts 741 homes and businesses at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, at 160 of its 3,105 postcodes. It has at least 6 primary schools, 2 secondary schools and 2 all-through schools at its postcodes. At least 5 GP practices are at its postcodes. The nearest railway station is Colchester Town, 650 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.
- What is the postcode for Colchester?
- Colchester is covered by postcode districts CO1, CO2, CO3, CO4, CO6 and CO7, across 3,105 postcodes in use. Source: ONS Postcode Directory.
- How much are houses in Colchester?
- Homes in Colchester sold for a typical £305,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, across 1,461 sales, no change on the 12 months before. Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, files dated 28 September 2026.
- What schools are in Colchester?
- In Colchester, primary schools at its postcodes include St John's Green Primary School, Colchester Prep & High School and North Primary School and Nursery; secondary schools at its postcodes include Colchester Prep & High School, St Helena School and Colchester Royal Grammar School. Source: Department for Education, Get Information about Schools, read 17 October 2026.
- Does Colchester have a railway station?
- Yes: Colchester Town is 650 metres from the centre point of the postcodes in Colchester, in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, NaPTAN, read 17 October 2026.
- What broadband can you get in Colchester?
- Ofcom reports on 3,027 of the 3,105 postcodes in Colchester. At 2,277 of them every home and business can get gigabit broadband, and at 2 some cannot get decent broadband (10 Mbit/s). Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations, Spring 2026.
- Is Colchester at risk of flooding?
- 160 of the 3,105 postcodes in Colchester 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 741 homes and businesses in an area at high or medium risk. This is long-term risk for the land, and leaves out surface water. Source: Environment Agency.
- Are new homes being built in Colchester?
- 104 of the 3,105 postcodes now in use in Colchester came into use in January 2020 or later, ONS says. In the 12 months to August 2025, 56 of the 1,767 homes sold in Colchester were newly built (3%), HM Land Registry's records show; across the CO4 district, 6%. Source: ONS Postcode Directory and HM Land Registry Price Paid Data.
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