Kennet Island & Green Park
Reading 017 · 8 sub-areas · 14,176 residents
Reading 017 is a sizeable neighbourhood within Reading, home to around 14,200 people and one of the more affordable parts of the borough for renters. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for around £1,400 a month. The neighbourhood's high share of social housing and strong ethnic diversity set it apart from Reading's more affluent suburban areas.
Kennet Island & Green Park is a mid-density neighbourhood of Reading in the South 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. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children.
Overview
What's it like to live in Kennet Island & Green Park?
3 parks and 1 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; 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 roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,579 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 8 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Kennet Island & Green Park in Reading
Living in Kennet Island & Green Park
Reading 017 sits at the more affordable end of Reading's rental market, and that shapes who lives here and what the neighbourhood feels like day-to-day. It's a genuinely mixed area — around 36% of households own their home, but over a third are in social housing, which is well above the Reading average. That tenure mix brings a stable, long-settled community alongside younger private renters drawn by rents that undercut much of the rest of the town.
On costs, you're looking at roughly £1,400 a month for a two-bedroom property — competitive for the South East and considerably below what you'd pay in comparable commuter towns closer to London. One-bedroom flats run around £1,120 and three-bedrooms around £1,670. Rents rose about 3.4% over the past year, in line with broader regional trends. Council tax (Band D) comes to around £2,613 a year.
The demographic picture here is notably younger and more diverse than the Reading average. Nearly a quarter of residents are under 18, which points to a lot of families in the area, while the 18–34 cohort makes up just under 29% — a healthy working-age mix. The ethnic diversity index sits at 59.3, and just under 64% of residents were born in the UK, reflecting one of Reading's more internationally mixed communities.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.2 km away — about a 28-minute walk, or a short bus or cycle ride. From Reading station, central London is reachable in under an hour by rail, which keeps this neighbourhood within reach of London workers who want South East rents without London prices. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets within Reading 017.
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Frequently asked
- Is Reading 017 a nice place to live?
- It's a mixed, unpretentious neighbourhood with genuinely affordable rents by South East standards and a strong community feel. The trade-off is a higher-than-average crime rate and a school quality picture that's below the national norm. It suits renters who prioritise value and don't need to be within walking distance of Reading station.
- What is the rent in Reading 017?
- A one-bedroom flat runs around £1,120 a month, a two-bedroom around £1,400, and a three-bedroom around £1,670. These are estimates scaled from borough-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose around 3.4% over the past year.
- Is Reading 017 safe?
- The crime rate here is around 136 per 1,000 residents annually, which is notably above the UK average of roughly 80 per 1,000. The neighbourhood sits in the lower third nationally for deprivation, which tends to correlate with higher crime. It's worth checking street-level data for specific areas within the neighbourhood.
- What's the commute from Reading 017 to Reading centre?
- The nearest mainline rail station is about 2.2 km away — a roughly 28-minute walk or a short bus ride. Most residents (around 42%) drive rather than use public transport. Around 30% work from home, which reduces commute pressure significantly.
- Who lives in Reading 017?
- A genuinely mixed community — roughly a third own their home, a third are in social housing, and a quarter rent privately. Nearly a quarter of residents are under 18, so it's family-heavy. The area is one of Reading's more internationally diverse, with around 36% of residents born outside the UK.
- What schools are near Reading 017?
- There are 106 schools within 2 km, so choice isn't the issue — but only around 47% of nearby schools are rated Good or Outstanding, well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 2.2 km away. Families should check specific catchment boundaries carefully.
- How long does it take to commute from Reading 017 to London?
- Reading station is roughly 2.2 km from the neighbourhood, and from there the rail journey to London Paddington takes around 55 minutes. It's one of the faster London commutes available at this rent level in the South East.