Retford East
Bassetlaw 008 · 6 sub-areas · 9,216 residents
Bassetlaw 008 is a residential area within Bassetlaw, home to around 9,200 people. Rents are among the most affordable you'll find anywhere in England — a typical two-bedroom property lets for around £650 a month, well under half the UK national median for a 2-bed. It's an area that skews older and owner-occupied, with a noticeably lower proportion of younger renters than the regional norm.
Retford East is a commuter neighbourhood within Bassetlaw — train into Sheffield runs in around 50 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it.
Overview
What's it like to live in Retford East?
Greenspace is on the doorstep — a park or playing field is within walking distance of most homes; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; 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 £716 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.
Retford East in Bassetlaw
Living in Retford East
Bassetlaw 008 sits in one of the more rural stretches of Nottinghamshire, and that shapes almost everything about daily life here. It's a settled, predominantly owner-occupied community — nearly two in three households own their home — with a demographic profile that leans older than the East Midlands average. The pace is quieter than a city neighbourhood, and the trade-off between affordability and urban convenience is more pronounced here than almost anywhere else in the region.
On cost, this area is genuinely exceptional. A typical two-bedroom property rents for around £650 a month — roughly half the UK national median of around £1,200 for a 2-bed. Even a three-bedroom home comes in at under £800 a month. Council tax (Band D) runs to about £2,645 a year, which is broadly typical for the district. With a median annual resident salary of around £28,300, renters here spend roughly 39% of take-home pay on rent — high relative to the low absolute figures, reflecting the area's lower wages rather than high rents.
Most residents are in their 50s or older — the 50-plus age groups account for well over 40% of the population — and the community has a strongly settled character. Single-person households make up around a third of all homes, a share above the national average. The ethnic diversity index is low at 6.6, and around 95% of residents were born in the UK, making this one of the more homogeneous communities in the East Midlands.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 1.5 km away — about an 18-minute walk — and the area sits around 52 minutes from the nearest major UK employment hub by public transport or car. Almost two in three residents drive to work, so access to a car is close to essential. Broadband coverage is strong, with 100% gigabit availability. For more on specific streets and sub-areas, see the streets and sub-areas below.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Bassetlaw 008 a nice place to live?
- It depends on what you're after. It's quiet, affordable, and has a strong community feel — nearly two in three households own their home and the population skews older. If you want low rents, green surroundings, and a slower pace, it works well. If you need easy access to cities or a varied local scene, the limited public transport and distance from major centres will feel like a real constraint.
- What is the rent in Bassetlaw 008?
- A two-bedroom property typically rents for around £648 a month — roughly half the UK national median. One-beds average around £496 and three-beds around £788. These figures are estimates scaled from district-level data using local sale prices, but they reflect the area's genuinely low rental market.
- Is Bassetlaw 008 safe?
- Broadly yes — the crime rate runs at around 76.6 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, slightly below the UK national average of roughly 80. It's not dramatically safer than average, but for a rural Nottinghamshire area the figures are consistent with what you'd expect. Checking street-level crime data for your specific street is always a sensible step.
- What's the commute from Bassetlaw 008 to the nearest city centre?
- The nearest mainline rail station is about 1.5 km away — roughly an 18-minute walk. The nearest major employment hub is around 52 minutes by car or public transport. Rail journeys to London take just over 100 minutes, to Manchester around 122 minutes. The overwhelming majority of residents drive to work, so a car is effectively essential for most commutes.
- Who lives in Bassetlaw 008?
- Mostly older, settled owner-occupiers. Nearly half the population is aged 50 or over, and the 65-plus group alone accounts for around 23% of residents. Single-person households make up about a third of all homes. It's an area with very little demographic churn — low private renting, low ethnic diversity, and around 95% of residents born in the UK.
- What schools are near Bassetlaw 008?
- There are 40 schools within typical catchment distance, but only around a quarter are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national average. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 20 km away. Families prioritising school quality should research catchment areas carefully and check current Ofsted ratings before choosing a specific street.
- How affordable is buying a home in Bassetlaw 008?
- Relatively accessible by UK standards. The median sale price is around £207,000, and on a typical local salary you'd need about 3.7 years to save a deposit — one of the more manageable deposit-to-income ratios in England. Low local wages moderate the picture somewhat, but property prices here are well below national and regional averages.