Ducks Island & Underhill
Barnet 004 · 6 sub-areas · 9,716 residents
Barnet 004 is a residential stretch of the London Borough of Barnet, home to around 9,700 people. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for about £1,840 a month — noticeably above the UK median but firmly in the mid-range for outer north London. The area stands out for its unusually high share of social housing and a notably short hop to central London by public transport.
Ducks Island & Underhill is a commuter neighbourhood within Barnet — train into London runs in around 30 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it.
Overview
What's it like to live in Ducks Island & Underhill?
3 parks are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; Crime sits around the national average — neither a notable concern nor a notable selling point; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents sit firmly in the upper bracket nationally, with a typical home letting at around £1,928 a month.
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.
Ducks Island & Underhill in Barnet
Living in Ducks Island & Underhill
Barnet 004 has the feel of a settled, family-oriented outer-London neighbourhood — relatively low-density by capital standards, with a strong owner-occupier base but a meaningful chunk of social housing that gives the area a mixed, unpretentious character. Greenspace is close at hand; the typical resident is within about 290 metres of a park or open land, and just over half the area counts as walkable for greenspace purposes.
On the cost scale for outer north London, this sits somewhere in the middle. A two-bedroom home runs around £1,840 a month, which is meaningfully below what you'd pay in inner London but still well above the national average of roughly £1,200. Saving a deposit takes time — around seven years on a typical local salary — and rents climbed nearly 5% in the past year alone, so affordability isn't improving fast.
The people who live here skew towards families and established households. Children under 18 make up 22% of the population, and couples with children account for nearly one in five households. Single-person households are present — about 27% — but this isn't primarily a young-professional rental market. Around 53% of residents own their home, and the private rental sector is smaller than average at just over 15%. The degree-holder share sits at 40%, which is solid but not exceptional for London.
Practically speaking, the commute to central London is around 27 minutes by public transport, which is one of this area's genuine selling points. The nearest underground station is roughly a kilometre away on foot — about a 13-minute walk — and the nearest mainline rail station is around 2.2 km away, or closer to a 28-minute walk, so most residents lean on the tube or their car. See the streets and sub-areas below for more on how the neighbourhood breaks down.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Barnet 004 a nice place to live?
- It's a settled, mixed outer-London neighbourhood with good greenspace access, a reasonable commute into central London, and a family-oriented feel. The trade-off is that rents are high relative to local salaries — the rent-to-take-home ratio runs around 80% — and school quality within catchment distance is more patchy than the London average.
- What is the rent in Barnet 004?
- A one-bedroom flat runs around £1,480 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,840, and a three-bedroom around £2,230. These are estimates based on borough-level data scaled by local sale prices. Rents rose about 4.9% in the past year.
- Is Barnet 004 safe?
- The crime rate sits at roughly 83 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, just above the UK national average of around 80. It's not a high-crime area by London standards, and the neighbourhood's deprivation score places it in the middle of the national range — neither particularly deprived nor exceptionally affluent.
- What's the commute from Barnet 004 to central London?
- Around 27 minutes by public transport, which is competitive for outer north London. The nearest underground station is about a 13-minute walk. About 38% of residents work from home, so a significant share don't make the commute at all.
- Who lives in Barnet 004?
- A mix of owner-occupiers (53%), social renters (nearly 30%), and a smaller private rental sector (15%). Families with children are well represented, making up around 22% of households. The population is broadly spread across age groups, with no single demographic dominating.
- What schools are near Barnet 004?
- There are 70 schools within typical catchment distance. Around 52% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, which is below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is just over 500 metres away. Check Barnet council's school finder for specific catchment boundaries.
- How much is council tax in Barnet 004?
- Council tax for a Band D property runs £2,133 a year, or roughly £178 a month. The exact amount depends on your property band — check the Barnet council website for the full band table.