Swalwell
Gateshead 009 · 5 sub-areas · 7,228 residents
Gateshead 009 is a residential part of Gateshead, home to around 7,200 people, with a median rent of roughly £785 a month — well below the UK average and notably affordable for the North East. A typical two-bedroom property runs about £707 a month, making this one of the more accessible parts of the borough for renters on a modest income.
Swalwell is a mid-density neighbourhood of Gateshead in the North East 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.
Overview
What's it like to live in Swalwell?
2 parks and 2 playgrounds 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 are below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £785 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.
Swalwell in Gateshead
Living in Swalwell
This part of Gateshead has a settled, suburban feel — the kind of area where owner-occupation is the norm and the population skews older than you'd find in a student-heavy inner city. Around two in three households own their home, and the age profile tilts noticeably towards the 50-plus bracket. It's not a place defined by nightlife or new arrivals; it's quieter and more established than that.
On cost, Gateshead 009 sits at the affordable end of an already affordable city. A two-bedroom home is around £707 a month, considerably below the UK national median for a two-bed, and the deposit hurdle is genuinely low — around 2.9 years of savings to reach a typical deposit, versus well over a decade in parts of London or the South East. Council tax (Band D) runs roughly £2,716 a year, which is on the higher side for the region but still manageable set against the low rent baseline.
Rent takes up around 41% of typical take-home pay here, which is higher than you'd want — it reflects the area's below-average resident salaries rather than particularly high rents. Median resident earnings are just under £29,500 a year. If you're commuting out to Newcastle or further for work, your take-home ratio will look better.
The nearest rail station is roughly 1.5 km away — about an 18-minute walk — giving access to the wider network. Most residents drive: around half commute by car, and nearly three in ten work from home, which is a notably high share. Greenspace is close by, with around 61% of residents within easy walking distance of green areas and the nearest greenspace just 276 metres away on average. See the streets and sub-areas below for more.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Gateshead 009 a nice place to live?
- It's a quiet, settled residential area — affordable, green, and predominantly owner-occupied. It suits people who want low rents and a suburban feel rather than city-centre buzz. The crime rate is above the national average, which is a real consideration, but the low cost of living and good greenspace access are genuine positives.
- What is the rent in Gateshead 009?
- A typical one-bedroom property runs around £578 a month, a two-bedroom about £707, and a three-bedroom roughly £823. These are estimates scaled from borough-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose around 5.5% over the past year.
- Is Gateshead 009 safe?
- The crime rate here is around 188 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — well above the UK national average of roughly 80 per 1,000. It's not among the most dangerous areas in England, but the figure is elevated. Checking the specific crime types on the police.uk data for your target street is advisable.
- What's the commute from Gateshead 009 to Newcastle city centre?
- Most residents drive — about half commute by car. The nearest rail station is roughly 1.5 km away (around an 18-minute walk). Public transport use is low at around 8% of commuters. Almost three in ten residents work from home, so for many the commute question is moot.
- Who lives in Gateshead 009?
- Mostly older, settled residents — over 40% are aged 50 or above. Around two in three households own their home. It's a predominantly white British area with very low ethnic diversity. About a third of households are single-person, likely a mix of older residents and younger singles.
- What schools are near Gateshead 009?
- There are 51 schools within typical catchment distance, but only around 45% are rated Good or Outstanding — significantly below the national share of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is about 3.8 km away. It's worth researching individual schools on the Ofsted website rather than relying on the area average.
- How affordable is buying a home in Gateshead 009?
- Very affordable by English standards. The median sale price is around £173,000, and it takes a typical resident about 2.9 years to save a deposit — one of the lower figures in England. For context, that figure exceeds a decade in many parts of the South East.