Stevenage:
A place for everyone

About Stevenage

Surrounded by the leafy countryside of Hertfordshire, Stevenage is a town steeped in rich heritage and culture, with a long history spanning back to Saxon times.

Though its history goes back several hundred years, Stevenage's current incarnation began in 1946 with its unveiling as the UK's first new town. Its goal was to give generations of people and businesses the foundation to build the futures they were all striving for.

Our location and excellent transport links mean that we have a vibrant and diverse business community. Stevenage is home to some of the UK’s leading retailers and high street favourites in the town centre, the old town High Street and retail parks. Our major regeneration programme will also introduce a range of new and exciting shopping and leisure opportunities for residents and consumers.

Our town is home to three international, sector-leading organisations in Airbus, MBDA and GSK, all of which are based on Gunnels Wood Road, one of the largest employment areas in the East of England. Don’t be surprised when you see on the news that Mars rovers, space satellites and more are designed and built here.

Stevenage has been listed as one of the top 10 most affordable commuter towns in the UK and offers outstanding properties that are close to London for significantly below the cost of other comparable areas. Located just 25 miles from London, our town and borough offer a perfect balance of urban and rural living. Affordable house prices make relocation easy, and Stevenage benefits from excellent schools.

As Stevenage was designed with leisure in mind, we benefit from excellent sports and cultural facilities. With a £50m investment programme in our leisure, social and lifestyle activities on the horizon, the town already benefits from the following:

Open green spaces, 45 miles of cycle paths, Water sports, Three golf courses, a Theatre, a Leisure park with cinema, bowling and places to eat, and Fitness centres.

Making Stevenage
Even Better

More than £37million worth of Towns Fund investment has been awarded to help realise “radical and innovative” change in Stevenage, after the town successfully bid for its share of central government grant funds. An ambitious capital programme is being delivered over the coming years, which includes new housing developments and a major town centre regeneration programme.

Our vision for Stevenage is a prosperous town with vibrant communities and improved life chances. We believe that this is only achievable if we continue to be a flexible Council that works with the community to provide value-for-money services for all and effective support for the most vulnerable.

As a priority, we will focus on five themes to improve the town and the lives of the people within it:

  • To increase the number of social and affordable homes in Stevenage.

  • To create a vibrant town centre where people want to live, work and play.

  • To work with our communities to improve our neighbourhoods.

  • To provide high quality homes to our tenants and leaseholders.

  • To improve the accessibility of our services and the customer experience.