Southampton Street & Redlands Road
Reading 014 · 6 sub-areas · 11,030 residents
Reading 014 is a dense, youthful pocket of Reading with around 11,000 residents and a high proportion of private renters. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for roughly £1,400 a month — noticeably above the UK average for a two-bed, but considerably cheaper than comparable zones in London. Nearly half of residents were born outside the UK, making this one of Reading's more internationally diverse neighbourhoods.
Southampton Street & Redlands Road 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 population skews young, with a high concentration of 18- to 34-year-olds; the rental market is active and turnover is high — people move through rather than stay.
Overview
What's it like to live in Southampton Street & Redlands Road?
Day-to-day life sits close to greenery — a park or playing field is within easy walking distance of most addresses; food and drink within walking distance is workable but not dense — around 37 restaurants and 3 pubs in five minutes; Crime sits around the national average — neither a notable concern nor a notable selling point; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; 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 6 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Southampton Street & Redlands Road in Reading
Living in Southampton Street & Redlands Road
Reading 014 has the feel of a neighbourhood in constant motion. Nearly four in ten residents are aged 18–34, which tilts the area firmly toward young professionals and students rather than settled families. The streets here are more rental than owned — just over half of all homes are privately rented, compared to a UK tenure mix that skews far more toward ownership. That density of private renters tends to mean more transient neighbours and a quicker-changing local character than you'd find in the suburban streets further out.
On cost, this sits toward the upper end of what Reading typically asks. Median monthly rent runs to around £1,580 across all bedroom sizes, and a two-bed will cost you roughly £1,400 a month. That's meaningfully above the UK's national two-bed median of around £1,200, though still well short of equivalent zones in central London. Council tax for a Band D property comes to around £2,613 a year — worth factoring in alongside rent. If you're buying, the median sale price is around £340,000, and the typical deposit takes roughly five years to save on a local salary.
Who lives here reflects those dynamics. Around 48% of residents were born outside the UK — a significantly higher share than Reading as a whole — and the ethnic diversity index sits at 55.9, suggesting a genuinely mixed community rather than a single dominant group. Degree-level qualifications are common: nearly half of residents hold one. Single-person households account for around 30% of the total, consistent with the young-professional profile.
For day-to-day practicalities, greenspace is close — the nearest is under 250 metres away, and around 70% of residents can reach open space within a walkable distance. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 1.5 km away, or around a 19-minute walk. Broadband is full gigabit across the whole area. See the streets and sub-areas below for a more granular breakdown.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Reading 014 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're after. If you want a young, diverse, well-connected neighbourhood with fast broadband and good greenspace access, it works well. It's not a quiet suburban street — around 39% of residents are under 35, private renting is the norm, and the area has a transient character. Crime is slightly above the national rate, and not all nearby schools are highly rated. For young professionals, it's a practical base; for families prioritising schools, it requires more careful research.
- What is the rent in Reading 014?
- A one-bedroom flat runs around £1,120 a month, a two-bed roughly £1,400, and a three-bed about £1,670. These are estimates scaled from Reading-wide ONS data using local sale prices. Rents rose around 3.4% in the past year. Council tax for a Band D property adds around £2,613 annually.
- Is Reading 014 safe?
- The crime rate is around 86 incidents per 1,000 residents per year — slightly above the UK national rate of roughly 80 per 1,000. That's elevated but not dramatically so for a dense urban neighbourhood with a high proportion of young renters. It's broadly comparable to similar inner-urban areas in other South East towns.
- What's the commute from Reading 014 to London?
- The rail journey to London takes around 41 minutes by public transport. The nearest mainline station is roughly 1.5 km away — about a 19-minute walk. That makes this a workable commuter location, especially combined with the fact that 38% of residents already work from home, suggesting many employers here offer flexible arrangements.
- Who lives in Reading 014?
- Mostly young adults — nearly four in ten residents are aged 18–34 — with a significant international-born population (around 48% were born outside the UK). Over half of homes are privately rented, single-person households account for around 30%, and nearly half of residents hold a degree. Families with children are present but not the dominant group.
- What schools are near Reading 014?
- There are 113 schools within 2 km, giving dense local coverage. Around 44% of those within typical catchment distance are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 574 metres away. Catchment boundaries vary, so it's worth checking individual schools directly rather than relying on proximity alone.
- Is Reading 014 good for working from home?
- Yes — 38% of residents already work from home, one of the higher shares you'll find in a South East neighbourhood of this size. Broadband is full gigabit coverage across the entire area, with no properties below the minimum speed standard. That infrastructure makes remote working genuinely reliable rather than aspirational.