Walcot East
Swindon 016 · 4 sub-areas · 7,022 residents
Swindon 016 is a predominantly social-rented neighbourhood within Swindon, home to around 7,000 people. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for roughly £970 a month — noticeably below the UK average for a 2-bed — though the area sits in the most deprived decile nationally. Rail access is about a 28-minute walk away, with public transport to a major UK employment hub taking under an hour.
Walcot East is a commuter neighbourhood within Swindon — train into Bristol runs in around 56 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children.
Overview
What's it like to live in Walcot East?
2 parks and 5 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; 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 £1,082 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
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.
Walcot East in Swindon
Living in Walcot East
This part of Swindon stands out within the town for its high concentration of social housing — over half of all households here rent from the council or a housing association, which is unusually high even by Swindon's standards and shapes the character of the area significantly. The streets here tend to be quieter and more residential than Swindon's commercial core, with greenspace within easy reach: typical residents are around 330 metres from open green space, and nearly half the area has walkable greenspace access.
Rents are low by national standards. A two-bedroom home runs about £970 a month — well under the UK median of around £1,200 for the same size — and a one-bedroom comes in at roughly £810. That affordability makes this one of the more accessible parts of Swindon for people on lower incomes, though private renting is relatively rare here; only around one in ten households rents privately.
The neighbourhood skews young. More than a quarter of residents — 27% — are under 18, one of the higher shares you'll find in a Swindon neighbourhood. Couples with children make up roughly one in five households, and the population overall is more ethnically diverse than much of the South West, with an ethnic diversity index of 46. Degree-level qualifications are relatively uncommon at around 16%, which tracks with the neighbourhood's deprivation profile — the area scores in the bottom decile nationally on the Index of Multiple Deprivation.
Practically, most residents drive: around 58% commute by car. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 2.2 km away — about a 28-minute walk — and connects to London Paddington in just under 75 minutes by public transport. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on how the neighbourhood breaks down.
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Frequently asked
- Is Swindon 016 a nice place to live?
- It's an affordable, family-heavy neighbourhood with good greenspace access and fast broadband, but it comes with real trade-offs. Crime runs at roughly double the national rate, only around 46% of nearby schools are rated Good or Outstanding, and the area sits in the bottom deprivation decile nationally. For renters on a tight budget, the low rents matter — but go in with clear eyes.
- What is the rent in Swindon 016?
- A one-bedroom typically runs around £810 a month, a two-bedroom about £970, and a three-bedroom roughly £1,200. These are estimates scaled from Swindon-level data using local sale prices. All three are below the UK median for equivalent sizes, making this one of the more affordable parts of Swindon.
- Is Swindon 016 safe?
- Crime sits at around 156 incidents per 1,000 residents per year — roughly double the UK national average. That's a significant gap. The area's high deprivation score is closely linked to the elevated crime rate. It's worth comparing specific streets and sub-areas if safety is a key concern before committing to a move here.
- What's the commute from Swindon 016 to central London?
- The rail journey to London takes roughly 75 minutes by public transport. The nearest mainline station is about 2.2 km away — around a 28-minute walk. Most residents here drive to the station rather than walk. There's no metro or tram connection, so the car is also the dominant commute mode for local and regional journeys.
- Who lives in Swindon 016?
- Predominantly families and younger residents — over a quarter of the population is under 18 and couples with children make up around one in five households. The majority of residents are in social housing (57%), with low rates of private renting and owner-occupation. The neighbourhood is more ethnically diverse than much of the South West, with around 26% of residents born outside the UK.
- What schools are near Swindon 016?
- There are 81 schools within 2 km, but only around 46% are rated Good or Outstanding — notably below the ~89% national average. The nearest Outstanding school is about 3.2 km away. Given the variability in school quality here, it's worth checking current Ofsted ratings and catchment boundaries for specific schools before making a decision based on education.