Kirkby Central
Ashfield 008 · 4 sub-areas · 6,265 residents
Ashfield 008 is a residential neighbourhood in Ashfield, East Midlands, home to around 6,265 people. A typical two-bedroom home lets for about £708 a month — well under the UK average for a 2-bed — and with a median house price under £155,000, it's one of the more affordable corners of the region. The main trade-off is limited public transport: most residents drive.
Kirkby Central is a commuter neighbourhood within Ashfield — train into Sheffield runs in around 45 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children.
Overview
What's it like to live in Kirkby Central?
3 parks and 1 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; Recorded crime is higher than the national norm — common for built-up urban areas, but worth weighing if you're looking for a quieter base; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents are below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £777 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Kirkby Central in Ashfield
Living in Kirkby Central
Ashfield 008 is a predominantly working-class residential neighbourhood where ownership and social renting sit alongside each other more than in most places. It's the kind of area where the housing stock is mostly semi-detached and terraced homes, the streets are quiet, and greenspace is genuinely close — around 57% of residents are within easy walking distance of a green area, with the nearest typically just under 300 metres away.
Rents here are low by any measure. A 2-bed at around £708 a month is roughly 40% below the national median, and even a 3-bed comes in under £830. The median house price sits at just under £155,000. That affordability does come with a cost: the rent-to-take-home ratio still reaches around 44%, reflecting that local wages are modest rather than that rents are particularly generous by local standards.
The population skews slightly younger than you might expect for a quieter area — around one in four residents is under 18, pointing to a neighbourhood with families rather than one that's ageing. Nearly a third of households are single-person, and couples with children account for just under one in five. Owner-occupation stands at around 49%, but the social housing share — nearly 30% — is notably higher than the national norm, which shapes the community feel.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 600 metres away — about an 8-minute walk — which is useful, though public transport only accounts for around 5% of commutes. Most people drive: two-thirds of residents travel to work by car. Birmingham is the most accessible major city by public transport at around 76 minutes. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets within the neighbourhood.
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Frequently asked
- Is Ashfield 008 a nice place to live?
- It depends on your priorities. Rents are very affordable — a 2-bed runs around £708 a month — greenspace is close by, and the rail station is within walking distance. The trade-offs are a crime rate roughly double the national average and a below-average share of highly-rated schools nearby. It suits buyers or renters on tighter budgets who are comfortable driving for most journeys.
- What is the rent in Ashfield 008?
- A typical one-bed is around £546 a month, a two-bed around £708, and a three-bed around £826. These figures are well below the UK median and among the more affordable in the East Midlands. Rents rose by around 4.3% in the past year. Note these are estimates scaled from council-level data using local sale prices.
- Is Ashfield 008 safe?
- The crime rate is around 178 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — noticeably higher than the UK average of roughly 80 per 1,000. The area is among the more deprived in England (IMD decile 1.5), which correlates with elevated crime figures. It's worth researching specific streets if safety is a primary concern.
- What's the commute from Ashfield 008 to the nearest major city?
- Birmingham is the most accessible major city by public transport at around 76 minutes. Manchester is roughly 101 minutes and London around 126 minutes. The rail station is about 600 metres away — an 8-minute walk. That said, two-thirds of residents commute by car, so most day-to-day journeys aren't rail-based.
- Who lives in Ashfield 008?
- It's a mixed residential area with a strong family presence — around one in four residents is under 18. Just under half of homes are owner-occupied, and nearly 30% are socially rented. The area is demographically homogeneous, with over 93% of residents UK-born. Degree-level qualifications are below average, reflecting a working-class resident base.
- What schools are near Ashfield 008?
- There are around 40 schools within 2 kilometres, but only about half are rated Good or Outstanding — well below the national average of around 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is around 4.5 kilometres away. Families should check individual school catchments carefully before making a decision.
- How affordable is buying a home in Ashfield 008?
- The median house price is just under £155,000, which is low by national standards. On a typical local salary, you'd need around 2.8 years to save a deposit — one of the more achievable timescales in the country. That said, rents still consume around 44% of take-home pay, so saving while renting requires discipline.