Five Ash Down, Horsted & Chiddingly
Wealden 013 · 4 sub-areas · 6,903 residents
Wealden 013 is a rural stretch of East Sussex, part of the Wealden district, home to around 6,900 people. A typical two-bedroom home lets for roughly £1,140 a month — close to the national median — but this is overwhelmingly owner-occupier territory, with nearly four in five households owning their home. The area is quiet, green, and decidedly car-dependent.
Five Ash Down, Horsted & Chiddingly is a settled residential pocket of Wealden. The bigger gravitational centre is London, around 140 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 Five Ash Down, Horsted & Chiddingly?
Greenspace is reachable but isn't on the immediate doorstep — most residents walk a few blocks to reach a park; 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 £1,259 a month for a typical home; broadband infrastructure is patchy — worth checking the specific postcode.
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.
Five Ash Down, Horsted & Chiddingly in Wealden
Living in Five Ash Down, Horsted & Chiddingly
Wealden 013 sits within the Wealden district of East Sussex, a largely rural area characterised by scattered settlements, farmland, and a pace of life that's a long way from any city. Around 626 metres to the nearest greenspace on average, and with more than a third of the area walkably close to open land, it's the kind of place people choose specifically for countryside living.
Rents here are relatively modest for the South East. A two-bedroom home runs about £1,140 a month — roughly in line with the UK median and well below what you'd pay in Brighton or Tunbridge Wells. That said, the rent-to-take-home ratio of around 59% reflects the fact that local wages are lower too: the median resident salary is around £33,400, while jobs physically based in the area pay considerably less — a median workplace salary of just under £27,700.
This is settled, older owner-occupier country. More than a quarter of residents are over 65, and a further quarter are in the 50–64 bracket. Just under 14% are aged 18–34, so if you're a younger renter looking for a peer group, you'll find the demographic skews noticeably older than most of the South East. The area is also among the least ethnically diverse in England, with 93% of residents UK-born.
Practically speaking, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly five kilometres away — about a 62-minute walk, so a car is essential for almost everything. More than half of residents commute by car, and over 40% work from home, which explains why this kind of rural location remains viable for working-age households. The public transport rail commute to London runs to around 141 minutes, so this isn't commuter-belt territory. See the streets and sub-areas below for more.
What you'll need on day one
Compare Five Ash Down, Horsted & Chiddingly with
Frequently asked
- Is Wealden 013 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're after. It's quiet, green, and low-crime — genuinely rural East Sussex living. With greenspace within roughly 626 metres on average and over 40% of residents working from home, it suits people who've chosen countryside life deliberately. It's less suited to younger renters or anyone needing fast city access.
- What is the rent in Wealden 013?
- A two-bedroom home runs around £1,140 a month, a one-bedroom around £894, and a three-bedroom around £1,423. These are estimates scaled from district-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose about 2% over the past year.
- Is Wealden 013 safe?
- Yes, relatively. Crime runs at around 47.5 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — well below the UK national rate of roughly 80 per 1,000. Rural areas like this tend to have lower crime volumes overall, and the socioeconomic picture here is reasonably stable.
- What's the commute from Wealden 013 to London?
- By public transport it's around 141 minutes each way — this isn't commuter-belt territory. The nearest rail station is about five kilometres away, so you'll need a car to reach it. Most residents here either work locally, work from home, or have accepted a long journey.
- Who lives in Wealden 013?
- Mostly older, settled owner-occupiers. Over half the population is aged 50 or above, and nearly four in five households own their home. The 18–34 age group makes up only about 14% of residents. It's a long-established, predominantly UK-born community with low turnover.
- What schools are near Wealden 013?
- There are four schools within typical catchment distance, but only around 23% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national average. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is about 5.5 kilometres away. With such a small number of nearby schools, it's worth checking individual catchments and Ofsted reports carefully.
- Is Wealden 013 good for working from home?
- It's one of its strengths. Over 40% of residents already work from home — one of the higher shares you'd find in any South East neighbourhood. Gigabit broadband reaches about 32% of properties, and no homes fall below the minimum broadband standard, so connectivity is functional if not exceptional.