Chilworth, Nursling & Rownhams
Test Valley 015 · 4 sub-areas · 8,320 residents
Test Valley 015 is a residential area within Test Valley, Hampshire, home to around 8,300 people. A typical two-bedroom home lets for about £1,100 a month — broadly in line with the national average — but ownership here is exceptionally high, with more than four in five households owning their home. The area skews noticeably older than most of the surrounding region.
Chilworth, Nursling & Rownhams is a mid-density neighbourhood of Test Valley 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 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 Chilworth, Nursling & Rownhams?
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; rents are roughly in line with the national norm, at around £1,203 a month for a typical home.
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.
Chilworth, Nursling & Rownhams in Test Valley
Living in Chilworth, Nursling & Rownhams
Test Valley 015 sits within the wider Test Valley district in Hampshire and has the feel of a settled, owner-occupied community rather than a transient rental market. That's reflected in the numbers: around 81% of households own their home, leaving only about one in ten on the private rental market. The pace here is quiet compared with nearby Southampton or Winchester, and the neighbourhood draws people who have made a deliberate choice to put down roots.
Rents are modest by South East standards. A two-bedroom home runs about £1,100 a month — roughly in line with the UK median — and a three-bedroom comes in around £1,370. That's a genuine contrast with the commuter belt closer to London, where you'd typically pay significantly more for equivalent space. The median property price of around £497,000, though, means getting onto the ownership ladder takes real effort: you're looking at roughly seven years to save a deposit on an average local salary.
The demographic picture here is noticeably older than elsewhere in the region. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, and the 50–64 bracket makes up another one in five. Families with children account for roughly one in five households, while single-person households are less common at around 22%. The degree-holder share, at about 38%, is above the national average, suggesting a well-educated but largely settled professional population rather than a young graduate influx.
Commuting is almost entirely by car — over half of residents drive to work, and just under 2% use public transport. Working from home is notably common at 37%, which helps explain why a rural market-town setting remains practical for many residents here. The nearest rail station is roughly 3.3 km away (about a 40-minute walk, though most people drive), and the rail commute to London runs to around 117 minutes. See the streets and sub-areas below for a closer look at specific parts of the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
Compare Chilworth, Nursling & Rownhams with
Frequently asked
- Is Test Valley 015 a nice place to live?
- It's a quiet, well-established area with low deprivation — it sits in the top 20% least deprived neighbourhoods in England. The trade-off is limited public transport, a mixed Ofsted picture, and a slower pace that suits settled households more than young professionals or renters looking for amenities on their doorstep.
- What is the rent in Test Valley 015?
- A one-bedroom runs around £860 a month, a two-bedroom about £1,100, and a three-bedroom around £1,370. Rents rose roughly 7% in the past year. These are estimates scaled from district-level data using local sale prices, as neighbourhood-level official rent data isn't published.
- Is Test Valley 015 safe?
- The crime rate is around 86 incidents per 1,000 residents annually — slightly above the UK average of roughly 80, but in the context of a very low-deprivation area. The neighbourhood sits in the ninth deprivation decile, meaning structural risk factors for crime are low.
- What's the commute from Test Valley 015 to the nearest city?
- Most residents drive rather than use public transport — only about 2% commute by public transport. The nearest rail station is around 3.3 km away. The rail journey to London takes roughly 117 minutes, so this doesn't work well for regular London commuters. Working from home is common, at 37% of residents.
- Who lives in Test Valley 015?
- Predominantly older, long-settled owner-occupiers. Nearly a quarter of residents are 65 or over, and over 80% own their home. It's a well-qualified population — around 38% hold a degree — but skews heavily away from younger renters or first-time movers.
- What schools are near Test Valley 015?
- There are 30 schools within typical catchment distance, but only around 21% are rated Good or Outstanding — significantly below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 3.3 km away. It's worth researching individual schools carefully before committing to the area.