Billinge
St. Helens 002 · 4 sub-areas · 5,946 residents
St. Helens 002, in the St. Helens district of the North West, is home to around 5,900 people and skews noticeably older than most English neighbourhoods. A typical two-bedroom home lets for around £707 a month — well below the UK national median — and the area is overwhelmingly owner-occupied, giving it a settled, residential character that sets it apart from the wider St. Helens average.
Billinge is a commuter neighbourhood within St. Helens — train into Manchester runs in around 56 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. The population skews older, with a long-settled feel and a high share of retirees; most homes are owner-occupied, so turnover is low and many residents have been here a long time.
Overview
What's it like to live in Billinge?
Greenspace is on the doorstep — a park or playing field is within walking distance of most homes; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; Transport links are limited — a car or e-bike is a practical assumption for most regular trips; rents are below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £774 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Billinge in St. Helens
Living in Billinge
This part of St. Helens has a quiet, established feel that comes straight from its demographics. Over a third of residents are aged 65 or older — one of the highest shares you'll find in any English neighbourhood — and eight in ten homes are owner-occupied. It's not a transient place; people tend to stay.
On cost, it's genuinely affordable. A two-bedroom home runs around £707 a month, which is roughly half what you'd pay in most English cities and far below the national median. Even a three-bedroom property comes in under £900 a month. Rents rose around 4.5% last year, so the direction of travel is upward, but the absolute levels remain low. The deposit hurdle is also modest — you're looking at under four years' worth of saving, compared to a decade or more in many southern cities.
The neighbourhood is almost entirely UK-born — around 98% of residents — with very low ethnic diversity. Public transport use is low too; about two-thirds of residents commute by car, and only around 2% rely on buses or trains for work. That matters practically: the nearest rail station is roughly 2.5 km away, about a 30-minute walk, so you'll want a car. Connectivity to Manchester is around an hour by public transport.
Greenspace is genuinely accessible — the nearest green area is under 350 metres away on average, and around four in ten residents are within easy walking distance of a park or open space. Broadband is fully gigabit-capable across the area, with no properties below the USO threshold.
See the streets and sub-areas below for a more granular picture of this part of St. Helens.
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Frequently asked
- Is St. Helens 002 a nice place to live?
- It's a quiet, settled neighbourhood that suits people looking for stability over buzz. Owner-occupancy is very high at 84%, the crime rate is well below the national average, and greenspace is close by. The trade-off is limited public transport and a local school picture that lags the national Ofsted benchmark — but for the right buyer or renter, it's genuinely good value.
- What is the rent in St. Helens 002?
- A one-bedroom runs around £569 a month, a two-bedroom around £707, and a three-bedroom around £863. These are estimates scaled from council-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose roughly 4.5% year-on-year, but absolute levels remain well below the UK median of around £1,200 for a two-bedroom.
- Is St. Helens 002 safe?
- Yes, relatively. The recorded crime rate is around 37 per 1,000 residents annually — less than half the UK national rate of roughly 80 per 1,000. The combination of high owner-occupancy and an older, settled population tends to keep crime low, and deprivation levels are moderate, placing the area around decile 7 on the national index.
- What's the commute from St. Helens 002 to Manchester?
- By public transport, it's around 63 minutes to Manchester. The nearest rail station is about 2.5 km away — roughly a 31-minute walk — so most residents drive to it rather than walking. Around 66% of people here commute by car, so if you're rail-dependent, factor in the transfer leg.
- Who lives in St. Helens 002?
- Predominantly older, long-established owner-occupiers. Over a third of residents are 65 or older, and 84% own their home. The 18–34 age group is thin. It's ethnically homogeneous — around 98% UK-born — and only a small share rent privately, making it one of the more settled, low-turnover neighbourhoods in the North West.
- What schools are near St. Helens 002?
- There are 16 schools within typical catchment distance. Around 52% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, which is notably below the national share of approximately 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is just over 3.5 km away. Families with strong school preferences should check individual catchment areas carefully before choosing a street.