Hitchin Highbury
North Hertfordshire 013 · 5 sub-areas · 8,111 residents
North Hertfordshire 013 sits within North Hertfordshire in the East of England, home to around 8,100 people. A typical two-bedroom home lets for about £1,260 a month — slightly above the national median but notably more affordable than London commuter-belt neighbours. With a rail commute to London under 40 minutes and three-quarters of residents owning their home, this is firmly owner-occupied commuter territory.
Hitchin Highbury is a commuter neighbourhood within North Hertfordshire — train into London runs in around 41 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. Most homes are owner-occupied, so turnover is low and many residents have been here a long time; a high share of adults are degree-educated, which often shows up in the kind of jobs people commute to.
Overview
What's it like to live in Hitchin Highbury?
2 parks and 1 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; food and drink within walking distance is workable but not dense — around 12 restaurants and 0 pubs in five minutes; 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 roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,408 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.
Hitchin Highbury in North Hertfordshire
Living in Hitchin Highbury
North Hertfordshire 013 has the feel of a settled, largely owner-occupied commuter area — the kind of place where people put down roots rather than pass through. Around three-quarters of households own their home, and the neighbourhood scores in the top decile nationally for deprivation (meaning it's among the least deprived areas in England), which comes through in the well-kept streets and relatively low crime rate.
Rents here sit above the national median but are a long way below the London rates you'd be escaping if you're relocating from the capital. A two-bedroom home runs around £1,260 a month. That's not cheap in absolute terms — and with rent taking up roughly half of a typical take-home salary, affordability is a genuine consideration — but the space and setting you get for the money compares well against the inner Home Counties.
The people who live here skew family-oriented and established. Nearly a quarter of residents are under 18, and couples with children make up over a quarter of all households. The 35–49 age bracket is well represented, which tracks with the commuter-family demographic. More than half of residents hold a degree, well above the national average, and the median resident salary comes in at around £42,700 a year — reflecting the pattern of people commuting out to higher-paid roles.
Practically speaking, the nearest rail station is roughly 930 metres away — about a 12-minute walk — and puts London within 40 minutes by public transport. Half the working population works from home, which partly explains why the area functions well as a base rather than a destination in itself. See the streets and sub-areas below for more on how the neighbourhood breaks down.
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Frequently asked
- Is North Hertfordshire 013 a nice place to live?
- It's one of the least deprived areas in England, with low crime and a well-settled, family-oriented community. The trade-off is that it's not cheap — rents run around £1,260 a month for a two-bedroom home — and the Ofsted picture for local schools is weaker than you might expect for such an affluent area.
- What is the rent in North Hertfordshire 013?
- A one-bedroom home runs about £1,005 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,260, and a three-bedroom around £1,550. These are estimates scaled from county-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose about 4.4% in the past year.
- Is North Hertfordshire 013 safe?
- Yes — the crime rate here is around 37 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, less than half the UK national average of roughly 80. It consistently ranks among the safer parts of the East of England and scores in the top deprivation decile nationally.
- What's the commute from North Hertfordshire 013 to London?
- Around 40 minutes by public transport from the nearest mainline rail station, which is roughly a 12-minute walk away. It's not the fastest London commute in Hertfordshire, but it's well within the range most commuters consider workable.
- Who lives in North Hertfordshire 013?
- Mostly owner-occupiers — 75% own their home — skewing towards families with children and professionals in their 30s and 40s. Over half hold a degree. The high work-from-home rate (51%) means the population is present during the day rather than emptying out on weekday mornings.
- What schools are near North Hertfordshire 013?
- There are 69 schools within typical catchment distance, but only around 23% are rated Good or Outstanding — well below the national average of about 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 1.7 km away. Families should check individual admissions boundaries carefully.
- How does North Hertfordshire 013 compare to the rest of North Hertfordshire?
- It sits towards the more affluent end of the district — low crime, high degree-holder share, and a median resident salary of around £42,700. House prices (median just under £452,000) and rents are above average for the area, reflecting its commuter appeal and low deprivation score.