Shortstown
Shortstown is covered by postcode districts MK42 and MK44. It is in the Bedford council area, England.
Every postcode in Shortstown, and which are new since 2020
- New since 2020: 29
- In use before 2020: 102
- Outline: where 5 or more new postcodes since 2020 lie together
Of the 131 postcodes in Shortstown that ONS places, 29 are new since 2020 and 102 were in use before 2020.
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. New since 2020 means it came into use in January 2020 or later. 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 52.1113, longitude -0.4298. 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; when each came into use: the same directory; 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 5 newest postcodes
What is it like to live in Shortstown?
Homes sold for a typical £300,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, down 13.2% on the 12 months before. At 111 of the 130 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 1 of its 131 postcodes. It has 1 primary school at its postcodes. The nearest GP practice is Bedoc Healthcare, 2.0 km from the middle. The nearest railway station is Bedford St Johns, 3.3 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 Shortstown?
Homes in Shortstown sold for a typical £300,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, across 59 sales, down 13.2% on the 12 months before, HM Land Registry's figures show.
- Detached £420,000 16 sales
- Semi-detached £327,500 13 sales
- Terraced £282,000 15 sales
- Flat or maisonette £195,000 15 sales
Each bar is that kind's typical price, against the most expensive kind here.
Across the whole MK42 district, Shortstown's main postcode district: a typical £317,000.
Sales at the postcodes ONS places in Shortstown: 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 Shortstown?
29 of the 131 postcodes now in use in Shortstown came into use in January 2020 or later, ONS says. In the 12 months to August 2025, 19 of the 104 homes sold in Shortstown were newly built (18%), HM Land Registry's records show; across the MK42 district, 21%.
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 Shortstown | Across the MK42 district |
|---|---|---|
| The 12 months to August 2026 | 1 of 59 (2%) | 41 of 479 (9%) |
| The 12 months to August 2025 | 19 of 104 (18%) | 177 of 848 (21%) |
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 Shortstown?
Ofcom reports on 130 of the 131 postcodes in Shortstown. At 111 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.
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 Shortstown at risk of flooding?
1 of the 131 postcodes in Shortstown has 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 Shortstown?
The primary schools are at the postcodes in Shortstown. There is no secondary school at its postcodes; these are the nearest to its middle. 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 Shortstown?
The nearest railway station to the centre point of the postcodes in Shortstown is Bedford St Johns Rail Station, 3.3 km away in a straight line.
- Bedford St Johns Rail Station Railway station 3.3 kmCycle
- Bedford Rail Station Railway station 4.4 kmCycle
- Kempston Hardwick Rail Station Railway station 5.5 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 Shortstown?
There is no GP practice at the postcodes in Shortstown. 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.
- Bedoc Healthcare Phone 01234 889088 2.0 kmCycle
- London Road Health Centre Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report August 2016, over 3 years old · Phone 01234 266851 2.7 kmCycle
- The De Parys Group Care Quality Commission rating: Good CQC report February 2016, over 3 years old · Phone 01234 351341 3.9 kmCycle
Source: NHS England, Organisation Data Service (GP practices), read 17 October 2026, Open Government Licence v3.0. How we use it
Is Shortstown safe? Crime recorded around it
Police.uk records 803 crimes and reports of anti-social behaviour within a mile of the middle of the postcodes in Shortstown 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
- 50 September 2025
- 73 October 2025
- 57 November 2025
- 74 December 2025
- 80 January 2026
- 53 February 2026
- 86 March 2026
- 68 April 2026
- 76 May 2026
- 65 June 2026
- 60 July 2026
- 61 August 2026
By kind, over the 12 months
Also: burglary 30, other crime 23, bicycle theft 9, possession of weapons 9, theft from the person 3, robbery 3.
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 Shortstown?
- Council
- Bedford
- Parliamentary constituency
- North Bedfordshire
- Police force area
- Bedfordshire
- Region
- East of England
- Country
- England
- MP
- Richard Fuller (Conservative)
All 131 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
Moving to Shortstown
Who to tell and what to sort out in your first week.
- Tell Bedford about council tax Council tax, on bedford.gov.uk
- Register to vote at the new address Register to vote on GOV.UK
- Register with a GP practice The nearest GP practices
- 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 Check your bin day on BinDayBuddy, which reads the council's own collection system
Shortstown postcodes
131 postcodes in use in Shortstown, by district:
Those districts are all in the MK postcode area.
Check a Shortstown 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 Shortstown
With the typical price of a home in each, to set beside Shortstown's £300,000. Distances are straight lines between the middles of each place's postcodes.
Questions about Shortstown
- What is it like to live in Shortstown?
- Homes sold for a typical £300,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, down 13.2% on the 12 months before. At 111 of the 130 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 1 of its 131 postcodes. It has 1 primary school at its postcodes. The nearest GP practice is Bedoc Healthcare, 2.0 km from the middle. The nearest railway station is Bedford St Johns, 3.3 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.
- What is the postcode for Shortstown?
- Shortstown is covered by postcode districts MK42 and MK44, across 131 postcodes in use. Source: ONS Postcode Directory.
- Which council is Shortstown in?
- Shortstown is in the Bedford council area. Source: ONS Postcode Directory.
- Who is the MP for Shortstown?
- Shortstown is in the North Bedfordshire parliamentary constituency. Its MP is Richard Fuller (Conservative), as UK Parliament listed them on 14 October 2026. Constituency: ONS Postcode Directory.
- How much are houses in Shortstown?
- Homes in Shortstown sold for a typical £300,000 in the 12 months to August 2026, across 59 sales, down 13.2% on the 12 months before. Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data, files dated 28 September 2026.
- What schools are in Shortstown?
- In Shortstown, primary schools at its postcodes include Shortstown Primary School; the nearest secondary school to the middle of its postcodes is Bedford Academy, 1.6 km away in a straight line. Source: Department for Education, Get Information about Schools, read 17 October 2026.
- Does Shortstown have a railway station?
- The nearest railway station to the centre point of the postcodes in Shortstown is Bedford St Johns, 3.3 km away in a straight line. Source: Department for Transport, NaPTAN, read 17 October 2026.
- What broadband can you get in Shortstown?
- Ofcom reports on 130 of the 131 postcodes in Shortstown. At 111 of them every home and business can get gigabit broadband. Source: Ofcom, Connected Nations, Spring 2026.
- Is Shortstown at risk of flooding?
- 1 of the 131 postcodes in Shortstown has 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. This is long-term risk for the land, and leaves out surface water. Source: Environment Agency.
- Are new homes being built in Shortstown?
- 29 of the 131 postcodes now in use in Shortstown came into use in January 2020 or later, ONS says. In the 12 months to August 2025, 19 of the 104 homes sold in Shortstown were newly built (18%), HM Land Registry's records show; across the MK42 district, 21%. Source: ONS Postcode Directory and HM Land Registry Price Paid Data.
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