Merley

What is it like to live in Merley?

Homes sold for a typical £435,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, down 3.3% on the 12 months before. At 55 of the 101 postcodes Ofcom reports on, every home and business can get gigabit broadband. The Environment Agency counts 21 homes and businesses at high or medium risk of flooding from rivers or the sea, at 5 of its 102 postcodes. It has 1 primary school and 1 secondary school at its postcodes. The nearest GP practice is The Quarter Jack Surgery, 2.0 km from the middle. The nearest railway station is Parkstone (Dorset), 6.8 km 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 Merley?

Homes in Merley sold for a typical £435,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, across 51 sales, down 3.3% on the 12 months before, HM Land Registry's figures show.

• Detached £465,000 41 sales
• Semi-detached £363,750 8 sales
• Terraced 1 sale, too few to price
• Flat or maisonette 1 sale, too few to price

Each bar is that kind's typical price, against the most expensive kind here.

Across the whole BH21 district, Merley's main postcode district: a typical £410,000.

Sales at the postcodes ONS places in Merley: 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 Merley?

3 of the 102 postcodes now in use in Merley came into use in January 2020 or later, ONS says. In the 12 months to August 2025, 0 of the 59 homes sold in Merley were newly built (0%), HM Land Registry's records show; across the BH21 district, 15%.

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

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 Merley?

Ofcom reports on 101 of the 102 postcodes in Merley. At 55 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 Merley at risk of flooding?

5 of the 102 postcodes in Merley 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 21 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 Merley?

The open schools at the postcodes in Merley. 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.

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 Merley?

The nearest railway station to the centre point of the postcodes in Merley is Parkstone (Dorset) Rail Station, 6.8 km away in a straight line.

• Parkstone (Dorset) Rail Station Railway station 6.8 kmDrive
• Branksome Rail Station Railway station 7.1 kmDrive
• Poole Rail Station Railway station 7.1 kmDrive

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 Merley?

There is no GP practice at the postcodes in Merley. These are the nearest to its middle, in a straight line. Each practice sets the area it takes patients from, so check with it before registering.

• The Quarter Jack Surgery Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report February 2026 · Phone 01202 848262 2.0 kmCycle
• Walford Mill Medical Centre Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report March 2017, over 3 years old · Phone 01202 886999 2.9 kmCycle
• The Hadleigh Practice Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report December 2016, over 3 years old · Phone 01202 692268 3.0 kmCycle

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

Is Merley safe? Crime recorded around it

Police.uk records 406 crimes and reports of anti-social behaviour within a mile of the middle of the postcodes in Merley 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: drugs 5, bicycle theft 4, other crime 4, robbery 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 Merley?

Council

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Parliamentary constituency

Mid Dorset and North Poole

Police force area

Dorset

Region

South West

Country

England

MP

Vikki Slade (Liberal Democrat)

All 102 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. See all our data sources