Hordle & Bashley
New Forest 018 · 6 sub-areas · 9,563 residents
New Forest 018, within the New Forest district of the South East, is home to around 9,600 people and sits firmly in owner-occupier territory — nearly nine in ten homes are owned outright or with a mortgage. A typical two-bedroom property lets for around £1,120 a month, broadly in line with the UK median, though rents have crept up around 2.4% over the past year.
Hordle & Bashley is a settled residential pocket of New Forest. The bigger gravitational centre is London, around 130 minutes away by direct train, but most days don't require leaving — local life is what people are here for. 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 Hordle & Bashley?
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; 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 roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,234 a month for a typical home; 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.
Hordle & Bashley in New Forest
Living in Hordle & Bashley
This part of the New Forest is quietly residential and unmistakably rural in character. The pace is slower than almost anywhere else in the South East, greenspace is close — on average within about 525 metres — and over a third of residents are aged 65 or over, which tells you a lot about who this area attracts and what the daily atmosphere feels like.
Rent sits around the national median for a two-bedroom home, which looks reasonable until you weigh it against local earnings. The median resident salary is around £31,300 a year, and rents here consume roughly 61% of take-home pay — a squeeze that puts it well into difficult affordability territory. Buying is even steeper: the median sale price is around £474,000, and saving a deposit takes an estimated 7.6 years on local wages.
The demographics are distinctive. At 37%, the 65-and-over share is far above what you'd see in most of the South East. Owner-occupation stands at 86.5% — exceptionally high — while private renting accounts for only around 9% of households. That tenure mix shapes the whole feel of the area: it's settled, stable, and not particularly transient.
Getting around relies almost entirely on a car — about 61% of residents commute by car, and just over 1% use public transport. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.4 km away in a straight line, around a 30-minute walk or a short drive. Working from home is common here: nearly a third of residents do so, reflecting both the rural setting and a professional resident base. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on how this area breaks down.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is New Forest 018 a nice place to live?
- For the right person, yes. It's quiet, safe, and surrounded by greenspace — the nearest open space is typically less than 600 metres away. It suits retired residents or those working from home who want a slower pace. It's less well-suited to young renters or anyone reliant on public transport, given the car-dependent layout and limited services.
- What is the rent in New Forest 018?
- A one-bedroom home runs around £857 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,120, and a three-bedroom around £1,380. These are estimated figures based on local sale prices scaled from council-level rent data. Rents rose around 2.4% over the past year.
- Is New Forest 018 safe?
- It's one of the safer parts of the South East. The crime rate sits at around 28 incidents per 1,000 residents annually, well below the UK national figure of roughly 80 per 1,000. Rural areas like this tend to see lower rates of most crime categories, particularly violent crime.
- What's the commute from New Forest 018 to the nearest city centre?
- Most residents drive — around 61% commute by car, and public transport use is very low. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.4 km away. By public transport, London takes approximately 2 hours 12 minutes. Nearly a third of residents work from home, which reduces the commute pressure for many.
- Who lives in New Forest 018?
- Predominantly older, settled owner-occupiers. Over a third of residents are aged 65-plus, and the majority are over 50. Owner-occupation stands at 86.5%, and only around 9% rent privately. It's one of the least transient neighbourhoods in the South East — most people here are long-term residents.
- What schools are near New Forest 018?
- There are 18 schools within typical catchment distance, but only around 9% are rated Good or Outstanding — significantly below the national average of about 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is around 3.2 km away. If school quality matters to your decision, it's worth researching individual schools directly rather than relying on the local average.
- How affordable is renting in New Forest 018?
- The headline rent looks close to the national median, but affordability is strained on local wages. Rent takes up roughly 61% of a typical resident's take-home pay — a high ratio. Buying is harder still, with a median sale price around £474,000 and an estimated 7.6 years needed to save a deposit.