North Darwen
Blackburn with Darwen 014 · 5 sub-areas · 7,083 residents
Blackburn with Darwen 014 is a residential neighbourhood in Blackburn with Darwen, home to around 7,100 people. A typical two-bedroom home lets for about £655 a month — well under half the UK average for a 2-bed — making it one of the more affordable corners of an already low-cost borough. Rents rose around 7% last year, so the window on these prices may not stay open forever.
North Darwen is a commuter neighbourhood within Blackburn with Darwen — train into Manchester runs in around 57 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it.
Overview
What's it like to live in North Darwen?
2 parks and 1 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; rents are below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £707 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.
North Darwen in Blackburn with Darwen
Living in North Darwen
This part of Blackburn with Darwen sits firmly at the affordable end of the northern rental market. The streets are predominantly residential — a mix of terraced housing and semi-detached homes typical of east Lancashire — with a community that's largely settled and owner-occupied. Nearly six in ten households own their home, which gives the area a more rooted, stable feel than many renter-heavy urban neighbourhoods.
On cost, the numbers are striking. At around £655 a month for a two-bedroom home, you're paying roughly half the UK national median for the same size property. Even within Blackburn with Darwen, this neighbourhood sits at the budget end. That said, rents climbed around 7% in the past year, so the gap is narrowing. Council tax comes in at around £2,455 a year for a Band D property — worth factoring into your monthly budget.
Who lives here? The age spread is fairly even across the adult brackets, with around one in five residents under 18 — a notably family-present profile. Single-person households make up just over a third of all homes. Around 95% of residents were born in the UK, and the ethnic diversity index is low, making this one of the more homogeneous areas in the borough. Degree-level qualifications sit at roughly 26%, slightly above what you might expect for a neighbourhood at this income level.
For practical move-in considerations, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 1.5 km away — about a 19-minute walk. Public transport use is low here: just under 5% of residents commute by bus or rail, while over 61% drive. Working from home is more common than the rail commute, with around 18% of residents doing so. Broadband is fully gigabit-enabled across the neighbourhood, so remote workers are well served. See the streets and sub-areas below for more.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Blackburn with Darwen 014 a nice place to live?
- It depends on your priorities. The area is genuinely affordable, owner-occupied, and community-rooted, with good broadband and a family-present feel. The trade-off is a crime rate noticeably above the national average, a mixed school picture, and limited public transport. It suits people who drive, work from home, and are primarily motivated by low housing costs.
- What is the rent in Blackburn with Darwen 014?
- A one-bedroom home runs around £529 a month, a two-bedroom around £655, and a three-bedroom around £773. These are estimates scaled from borough-level data. Rents rose roughly 7% last year, so prices are creeping up, but they remain well below the UK national median for equivalent-sized homes.
- Is Blackburn with Darwen 014 safe?
- The crime rate is around 140 incidents per 1,000 residents annually — roughly 75% above the UK national rate of about 80 per 1,000. The area falls in the third deprivation decile nationally, which is a contributing factor. It's not exceptional by east Lancashire standards, but it's a real consideration. Check the police.uk street-level map for the specific roads you're weighing up.
- What's the commute from Blackburn with Darwen 014 to Manchester?
- By public transport, Manchester is around 57 minutes away. The nearest mainline rail station is about 1.5 km from typical residential streets — roughly a 19-minute walk. Most residents drive rather than use public transport, and over 18% work from home, which reduces the commute question for a sizeable share of the neighbourhood.
- Who lives in Blackburn with Darwen 014?
- Predominantly UK-born, owner-occupying households with a fairly even spread across age groups. Around one in five residents is under 18, reflecting a meaningful family presence. Single-person households make up just over a third of homes. It's one of the less transient neighbourhoods in the borough — nearly 60% own their home outright or with a mortgage.
- What schools are near Blackburn with Darwen 014?
- There are 64 schools within 2 km of typical residents, so choice isn't the issue — quality is. Only around 31% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 4 km away. Individual Ofsted reports are worth reading carefully before choosing a street to live on.
- Is Blackburn with Darwen 014 affordable for first-time buyers?
- Yes — it's among the more accessible neighbourhoods in England for buyers. The median house price is around £143,000, and the typical deposit savings period is about 2.6 years. The rent-to-income ratio is around 41%, which is relatively high given local salaries, so renting long-term here is less efficient than buying if you can get a mortgage.