Swanwick & Leabrooks
Amber Valley 004 · 6 sub-areas · 8,609 residents
Amber Valley 004 is a quiet, predominantly owner-occupied neighbourhood within Amber Valley in the East Midlands, home to around 8,600 people. A typical two-bedroom home lets for about £726 a month — well below the national median and among the more affordable pockets in the region. The area skews noticeably older than most, with over a quarter of residents aged 65 or above.
Swanwick & Leabrooks is a settled residential pocket of Amber Valley. The bigger gravitational centre is Sheffield, around 66 minutes away by direct train, but most days don't require leaving — local life is what people are here for. The population skews older, with a long-settled feel and a high share of retirees; most homes are owner-occupied, so turnover is low and many residents have been here a long time.
Overview
What's it like to live in Swanwick & Leabrooks?
Day-to-day life sits close to greenery — a park or playing field is within easy walking distance of most addresses; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; Transport links are limited — a car or e-bike is a practical assumption for most regular trips; rents are below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £784 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 6 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Swanwick & Leabrooks in Amber Valley
Living in Swanwick & Leabrooks
This part of Amber Valley is solidly suburban and largely residential — the kind of neighbourhood where most people own their homes and have done for a long time. Around eight in ten households are owner-occupied, which gives the area a settled, low-turnover feel quite different from the faster-moving rental markets of nearby Derby or Nottingham. Green space is close: the typical resident is within roughly 190 metres of a park or open space, and nearly nine in ten households are within an easy walk of greenery.
On cost, this neighbourhood sits at the affordable end of the regional picture. A one-bedroom lets for around £572 a month, a two-bedroom for £726, and a three-bedroom for about £895 — all noticeably below the UK national median two-bedroom rent of around £1,200. That said, rents have risen around 4.6% over the past year, so the trajectory is upward. Council tax (Band D) runs to about £2,408 a year, which is in line with the wider district. Median house prices sit at roughly £220,000, and the typical deposit takes around 3.6 years of savings to accumulate.
The demographic profile here is distinctly older. More than a quarter of residents are 65 or over, and the 50–64 age group accounts for another 23% — together, that's nearly half the population. Families with children are present but not the dominant household type; single-person households make up around 28% of homes. The community is overwhelmingly UK-born, with an ethnic diversity index of just 3.4, one of the lower figures you'll find in the East Midlands.
For getting around, car dependency is real: roughly two-thirds of residents commute by car, and only around 2% use public transport for work. The nearest mainline rail station is about 3.1 km away — roughly a 39-minute walk, so most people drive to it. Birmingham is reachable by public transport in just over 100 minutes. Working from home is common here, with nearly a quarter of residents doing so. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific parts of the neighbourhood.
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Frequently asked
- Is Amber Valley 004 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're after. If you want a quiet, settled, green neighbourhood with low rents and low crime, it works well. The trade-off is limited public transport, an ageing demographic feel, and fewer amenities within walking distance than you'd get in a town centre. Around 86% of residents are within easy reach of green space, which is a genuine plus.
- What is the rent in Amber Valley 004?
- A typical one-bedroom property rents for around £572 a month, a two-bedroom for about £726, and a three-bedroom for roughly £895. These figures are estimates scaled from district-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose around 4.6% over the past year, so they're moving upward from an affordable base.
- Is Amber Valley 004 safe?
- By national standards, yes. The area records around 58.8 crimes per 1,000 residents annually — well below the UK average of roughly 80 per 1,000. High owner-occupancy and low population turnover tend to keep crime rates down, and that pattern holds here.
- What's the commute from Amber Valley 004 to Birmingham?
- By public transport, Birmingham is around 102 minutes away. Most residents commute by car — about two-thirds do so — and the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 3.1 km away, so you'd typically drive to the station. There's no tram or metro service in the area.
- Who lives in Amber Valley 004?
- Predominantly older, long-settled owner-occupiers. Over a quarter of residents are 65 or above, and nearly half are 50 or older. Single-person households make up around 28% of homes. It's not an area drawing large numbers of young renters — private rental accounts for only about 13% of households.
- What schools are near Amber Valley 004?
- There are 52 schools within typical catchment distance, but only around 48% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national share of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 4.5 km away. Families should check individual catchment boundaries directly with the schools or via the Ofsted website.
- How affordable is buying a home in Amber Valley 004?
- More manageable than much of England. The median house price is around £220,000, and on a typical local salary it takes roughly 3.6 years to save a deposit — a relatively achievable timeline. That compares favourably to southern cities where deposit timelines often stretch beyond a decade.