Queen's Park & Higher Croft
Blackburn with Darwen 011 · 6 sub-areas · 10,632 residents
Blackburn with Darwen 011 is a neighbourhood within Blackburn with Darwen, home to around 10,600 people. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for about £655 a month — well below the UK median and among the more affordable pockets in the North West. Rents rose around 7% last year, but even so, you'd struggle to find comparable value in most English cities.
Queen's Park & Higher Croft is a mid-density neighbourhood of Blackburn with Darwen in the North West 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. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children.
Overview
What's it like to live in Queen's Park & Higher Croft?
Greenspace is on the doorstep — a park or playing field is within walking distance of most homes; there's effectively nothing within walking distance — eating out, drinking and shopping mean a drive; Recorded crime is higher than the national norm — common for built-up urban areas, but worth weighing if you're looking for a quieter base; 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 6 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Queen's Park & Higher Croft in Blackburn with Darwen
Living in Queen's Park & Higher Croft
This part of Blackburn with Darwen sits firmly at the affordable end of the North West rental market. At roughly £655 a month for a two-bedroom home, you're paying a fraction of what similar space costs in Manchester or Leeds, let alone London. That gap is the defining feature of living here — your money goes significantly further than it would almost anywhere south of the Pennines.
The cost picture is straightforwardly good for renters. A one-bedroom property runs around £529 a month, and even a three-bedroom home averages about £773. Council tax (Band D) comes to around £2,455 a year. For buyers, the median sale price sits at roughly £162,000 — meaning a deposit is achievable in about three years on a typical local salary, which is unusually quick by national standards.
Who lives here? The neighbourhood skews noticeably younger than many comparable areas — just over a quarter of residents are under 18, and nearly a quarter are aged 18 to 34. Around a third of housing is socially rented, which is significantly above the national norm, and just over half of homes are owner-occupied. Single-person households make up about 29% of the area. Degree-holding residents account for roughly 26% of adults — broadly typical for a post-industrial northern town rather than a university city.
Practically, most residents drive — about 64% commute by car, and public transport use is low at around 2.5%. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2 km away, about a 25-minute walk. Manchester is reachable in just over an hour by public transport, which makes this area workable for occasional city trips, though it's not a natural commuter base for daily Manchester office work. Broadband coverage is strong — 100% of premises have access to gigabit-capable connections. 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 011 a nice place to live?
- It depends on your priorities. The affordability is exceptional — two-bedroom homes rent for around £655 a month — and the area has a settled, family-orientated feel. The trade-off is higher-than-average crime rates and school quality below the national norm. For buyers on a tight budget, the short deposit timeline (about three years) is a genuine draw.
- What is the rent in Blackburn with Darwen 011?
- A one-bedroom property averages around £529 a month, a two-bedroom about £655, and a three-bedroom around £773. Rents rose roughly 7% over the past year. These are estimates scaled from council-level data using local sale prices, but they reflect the area's position as one of the more affordable pockets in the North West.
- Is Blackburn with Darwen 011 safe?
- Crime runs at around 179 incidents per 1,000 residents annually — notably above the UK national rate of roughly 80 per 1,000. The area sits in approximately the second most deprived decile nationally, which correlates with elevated crime. Checking street-level data via the national crime map for your specific road is a sensible step before moving.
- What's the commute from Blackburn with Darwen 011 to Manchester?
- By public transport, Manchester takes around 69 minutes. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2km away — about a 25-minute walk. Most residents drive rather than use public transport, and only around 2.5% commute by train or bus, so this isn't a natural daily commuter base for Manchester office workers.
- Who lives in Blackburn with Darwen 011?
- A notably family-heavy population — around 27% are under 18. About a third of homes are socially rented, and just over half are owner-occupied. Single-person households make up around 29%. The community is relatively settled rather than transient, with most residents born in the UK.
- What schools are near Blackburn with Darwen 011?
- There are 115 schools within 2km, so choice isn't the issue — quality is. Only around 24% of those are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, well below the national average of approximately 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is about 2km away. Checking current Ofsted reports for specific schools is strongly recommended.
- How affordable is buying a home in Blackburn with Darwen 011?
- Very affordable by national standards. The median sale price is around £162,000, and on a typical local salary you'd save a 10% deposit in about three years — one of the faster timelines in England. For first-time buyers priced out elsewhere in the North West, this area is worth serious consideration.