Birstall Wanlip & Riverside
Charnwood 019 · 5 sub-areas · 9,465 residents
Charnwood 019, in the Charnwood district of the East Midlands, is home to around 9,500 people and sits firmly at the affordable end of the local rental market. A typical two-bedroom home lets for around £836 a month — well below the UK national median for a two-bed — and over eight in ten residents own their home outright or with a mortgage, giving the area a distinctly settled, residential feel.
Birstall Wanlip & Riverside is a settled residential pocket of Charnwood. The bigger gravitational centre is Birmingham, around 103 minutes away by direct train, but most days don't require leaving — local life is what people are here for. 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 Birstall Wanlip & Riverside?
Greenspace is on the doorstep — a park or playing field is within walking distance of most homes; Crime sits around the national average — neither a notable concern nor a notable selling point; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £949 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 5 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Birstall Wanlip & Riverside in Charnwood
Living in Birstall Wanlip & Riverside
Charnwood 019 has the character of a well-established suburban area rather than anything you'd describe as transient. The neighbourhood is predominantly owner-occupied — around 81% of households own their home — which means a relatively stable community with low tenant turnover. Green space is close at hand, with the nearest patch within around 300 metres for most residents, and over half the neighbourhood falls within easy walking distance of accessible green space.
Rents here are noticeably low by national standards. A two-bedroom home runs roughly £836 a month, comfortably below the UK median of around £1,200, and a three-bedroom comes in just over £1,000. For buyers, the median sale price is around £315,000, and the deposit-saving period comes in at about 4.7 years — relatively manageable compared with many parts of England. The trade-off is that rents are rising: they're up around 5.5% year-on-year, broadly in line with wider national pressures.
The people who live here skew slightly older. Around 21% of residents are 65 or over, and the under-18 share is also strong at just over 20%, pointing to a good number of established families alongside older, settled households. Couples with children make up nearly a quarter of all households. It isn't a neighbourhood drawing large numbers of young renters — private renters account for only around 13% of tenure, well below UK norms.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 3.2 km away — about a 40-minute walk, so most people drive. Nearly 59% of residents commute by car, and working from home is also common at nearly a third of residents. Broadband coverage is strong: 100% of premises can access gigabit-capable connections. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets of the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Charnwood 019 a nice place to live?
- It's a quiet, well-established area with low crime, good green space access, and strong broadband — better suited to families and older residents than young renters. Over 80% of households own their home, which gives the neighbourhood a settled feel. The trade-off is limited public transport and a fairly modest local job market.
- What is the rent in Charnwood 019?
- A one-bedroom typically runs around £670 a month, a two-bedroom around £836, and a three-bedroom just over £1,000. These are estimates scaled from council-level data. Rents rose around 5.5% in the past year, so they're moving upward, but they remain well below the UK national two-bed median of around £1,200.
- Is Charnwood 019 safe?
- Yes, relatively. The area records around 71 crimes per 1,000 residents annually, below the UK national rate of around 80. It sits in the 8th deprivation decile, meaning it's among the less deprived areas in England, and the claimant unemployment rate is a low 2.4% — both indicators of a stable, low-crime environment.
- What's the commute from Charnwood 019 to Birmingham?
- By public transport, Birmingham is roughly 98 minutes away. The nearest rail station is around 3.2 km from the neighbourhood, so most residents drive to reach it. Car is the dominant commute mode here — nearly 59% of residents travel by car — and working from home is also common at around 32%.
- Who lives in Charnwood 019?
- Mostly owner-occupiers — around 81% of households own their home. The population skews slightly older, with over 21% aged 65 or above, and families with children are well represented. It's not an area drawing lots of young renters; private tenants make up only around 13% of households.
- What schools are near Charnwood 019?
- There are 42 schools within a typical catchment radius, though only around 26% are rated Good or Outstanding — well below the national average of around 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is roughly 2.9 km away. It's worth checking current Ofsted ratings directly, as inspection outcomes can change.
- How affordable is buying a home in Charnwood 019?
- The median sale price is around £315,000, and saving a deposit takes roughly 4.7 years at typical local salaries — relatively manageable by English standards. The median resident salary is around £33,550 a year. Rents are rising at 5.5% annually, which nudges the rent-to-income ratio to around 43% for renters.