From St Albans City centre, moving eastwards, the town’s fabric shifts into the suburban, with self-contained neighbourhoods, shops and facilities unique to them. Nestled in the district of East Hertfordshire, in between Welwyn Garden City and Harlow Town in Essex, St Albans is one of the oldest settlements in the whole of the UK - with origins dating back to over 2,000 years ago! Nowadays, owing to its proximity to London via the rail network and major motorway systems, it is a stable commuter belt community that benefits from its London connection, ancient history, and adjacency to the natural pastoral landscapes of Hertfordshire! As such, the housing stock is uniquely varied along the eastern strip; from more affordable pre-fab suburban builds at a lower price point, to grand country-home inspired builds ranging upwards of £2 million.

St Albans’ history as a settlement dates back to the Celtic tribe of Catuvellauni at the end of the first century BC, when it was then known as Vermaloin. The Romans invaded England in 42 AD, took the Celtic town of Vermaloin, renaming it Verulamium. Verulamium was one of the three biggest settlements in Roman Britain, third only after Londinium (London) and Camulodunum (Colchester). Even after Boudica of Iceni’s burning of Verulamium, the town prospered as a Roman settlement up until the Roman evacuation of Britain in around 410 AD. St Albans’ gets its modern name from its associations to Saint Alban, the first-recorded British Catholic martyr in the canon. Persecuted for his faith by the Roman Empire in around 304 AD, St Albans cathedral commemorates the site of his persecution, and is also the site for the beginnings of contemporary St Albans.

Most of the archaeological evidence of the Roman occuptation of St Albans is situated to the south-east of the contemporary city. Notably, the Roman theatre, built in 140 AD. This theatre is the only one of its kind in the whole of Britain, and is remarkably still used as a theatre today!

Due to St Albans’ ancient history and development over the past two-thousand years means there are planning and development restrictions in place; particularly around the central portion of St Albans. However, moving eastward to the more suburbanised sections of St Albans, such as ‘The Camp’ - a diverse and varied suburban neighbourhood of St Albans, ‘Bernards Heath’ a more affluent neighbourhood of the suburban sprawl. As such, in these suburbanised areas, there is scope for single-use development. The district is currently working on its new and improved local plan, which will aim to boost infrastructure, and develop housing within the area.