Nunhead North
Southwark 026 · 5 sub-areas · 9,744 residents
Southwark 026 is a densely populated pocket of inner south London, home to around 9,700 people and shaped by an unusually high concentration of social housing alongside privately rented flats. A typical two-bedroom lets for about £2,266 a month — noticeably below the central London norm for this proximity to the City. The nearest mainline rail station is under 500 metres away, putting central London just six minutes by public transport.
Nunhead North is a mid-density neighbourhood of Southwark in the London region. It sits between busier and quieter parts of the local authority and isn't dominated by a single use — there's a mix of workplaces, housing and local services. 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 Nunhead North?
4 parks and 5 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 29 restaurants and 5 pubs in five minutes; 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 £2,388 a month; 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.
Nunhead North in Southwark
Living in Nunhead North
This part of Southwark sits in an interesting position: close enough to the City of London that nearly half the working-age residents work from home, yet it scores in the bottom 40% of the Deprivation Index — a reminder of how sharply inequality concentrates in inner south London. The area has a genuinely mixed character, with social-rented properties making up nearly half of all homes alongside a private rental market that draws in younger professionals priced out of neighbourhoods further north.
Rents here are lower than you might expect given the commute times. A two-bedroom flat runs around £2,266 a month and a three-bedroom around £2,633 — cheaper than equivalent flats in Bermondsey or London Bridge, yet you're still only six minutes by rail from the heart of the City. The trade-off is that around 90% of a median take-home salary goes on rent, so this is not an easy place to save.
The population skews younger, with just over 30% of residents aged 18–34, but there's also a meaningful family presence — around 19% of residents are under 18, which is consistent with the high social-housing stock. Nearly half of all households are single-person, pointing to a large contingent of younger renters living alone. The ethnic diversity index sits at 63, reflecting a genuinely mixed community, with around 68% of residents born in the UK.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline station is roughly 475 metres away — about a six-minute walk — making car ownership largely unnecessary; only around 13% of residents commute by car. Greenspace is closer than you'd expect in this part of London, with the nearest park within 256 metres and around 63% of residents within easy walking distance of green space. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on how conditions vary across the neighbourhood.
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Frequently asked
- Is Southwark 026 a nice place to live?
- It depends on your priorities. You get excellent rail access — central London in six minutes — at rents noticeably below many comparable inner-London postcodes. The area is genuinely mixed, with a strong community of long-term residents alongside younger renters, and greenspace is closer than you'd expect. The trade-off is that crime runs above the national average and the deprivation score places it in the lower 40% nationally.
- What is the rent in Southwark 026?
- A one-bedroom flat runs around £1,810 a month, a two-bedroom around £2,266, and a three-bedroom around £2,633. These are estimates scaled from council-level ONS data using local sale prices. Rents rose about 1.3% over the past year — relatively modest compared to recent London-wide trends.
- Is Southwark 026 safe?
- Crime runs at around 97 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — above the UK national rate of roughly 80. That's typical for densely populated inner-south London, where higher footfall tends to push recorded crime rates up. Antisocial behaviour and theft are the main drivers. The picture varies by street, with quieter residential blocks generally calmer than areas near commercial strips.
- What's the commute from Southwark 026 to central London?
- Around six minutes by public transport from the nearest mainline rail station, which is roughly a six-minute walk from the neighbourhood. It's one of the shorter south London commutes available at this price point. Nearly half of residents work from home, so the commute question is less pressing for many people living here than it might be elsewhere.
- Who lives in Southwark 026?
- A genuinely mixed community. Around 47% of homes are social-rented — unusually high for inner London — alongside a significant private rental sector drawing in younger professionals. Just over 30% of residents are aged 18–34, and around 49% hold a degree-level qualification. The ethnic diversity index sits at 63, making it one of the more diverse parts of Southwark.
- What schools are near Southwark 026?
- There are 195 schools within a 2km radius, giving families a wide range to consider. Around 37% of those are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, which is well below the national average of roughly 89% — though the nearest Outstanding-rated school is under 900 metres away. It's worth checking individual Ofsted reports and current catchment boundaries directly, as inspection timings can affect the overall percentage.
- Is Southwark 026 expensive to buy in?
- The median sale price sits at around £537,000. On a typical local salary of around £43,000 a year, you'd be looking at roughly six years of saving for a deposit — broadly in line with inner-London norms but a significant commitment. The high share of social and private rented homes means owner-occupation is relatively rare here, at just 31% of households.