Hawbush
Dudley 023 · 5 sub-areas · 9,062 residents
Dudley 023 is a residential neighbourhood within the Dudley borough in the West Midlands, home to around 9,000 people. A typical two-bedroom property lets for about £771 a month — noticeably below the UK median for a 2-bed, making it one of the more affordable corners of the region. The area skews younger than many nearby neighbourhoods, with families and young adults making up a significant share of residents.
Hawbush is a commuter neighbourhood within Dudley — train into Birmingham runs in around 48 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 Hawbush?
The area is unusually green for its density — 8 parks and 1 playgrounds sit within five minutes' walk of the centroid; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents are below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £846 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 5 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Hawbush in Dudley
Living in Hawbush
Car is king here. Around two in three residents drive to work, and with the nearest rail station roughly 2.2 km away (about a 27-minute walk), you'll almost certainly need one. That said, the trade-off is space and affordability — you get considerably more house for your money than you would in Birmingham, and greenspace is close by, with around three quarters of residents within a walkable distance of a park or green area.
Rents are genuinely low by national standards. A 2-bed here costs around £771 a month. Even a 3-bed comes in under £930. That affordability does come with a cost though: rents rose 7.5% in the past year, faster than many people's wages, and the rent-to-take-home ratio sits at around 43% — higher than you'd want, even at these price levels.
The neighbourhood leans family-orientated. Nearly a quarter of residents are under 18, and couples with children account for around one in five households. Owner-occupation is the dominant tenure at 58%, but social housing is more prominent here than in many comparable areas, at just over a quarter of all homes. The degree-educated share, at around 22%, is below the national average — this is a working-class community with deep local roots, with 96% of residents UK-born.
For practical purposes, Birmingham is accessible by public transport in around 48 minutes, which makes the area workable for city commuters who don't mind the journey. Broadband is excellent — 100% gigabit coverage — so working from home, which around 18% of residents already do, is straightforward. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets within the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Dudley 023 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're after. Rents are genuinely affordable — around £771 a month for a typical two-bedroom — and greenspace is close for most residents. The trade-off is that schools within catchment distance score well below the national average, and you'll need a car for almost everything. It suits families and working households who prioritise space and value over city-centre convenience.
- What is the rent in Dudley 023?
- A one-bedroom property typically runs around £603 a month, a two-bedroom around £771, and a three-bedroom around £928. These are estimates scaled from borough-level data using local sale prices. Rents rose roughly 7.5% in the past year, so they're moving upward even from this affordable base.
- Is Dudley 023 safe?
- The crime rate here is around 72 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — slightly below the UK national average of roughly 80 per 1,000. That puts it in broadly middle-of-the-road territory for an urban West Midlands neighbourhood. Quieter residential streets tend to feel calmer than busier through-routes.
- What's the commute from Dudley 023 to Birmingham city centre?
- By public transport it's around 48 minutes to Birmingham. Most residents drive — around 65% commute by car — as the nearest rail station is roughly 2.2 km away. There's no metro or tram service in the area. Working from home is well-supported, with 100% gigabit broadband coverage.
- Who lives in Dudley 023?
- Mostly families and young adults. Nearly a quarter of residents are under 18, and couples with children make up around one in five households. Owner-occupation is the majority tenure at 58%, but social housing accounts for over a quarter of homes — higher than most comparable neighbourhoods. The area is predominantly UK-born, with 96% of residents born in the UK.
- What schools are near Dudley 023?
- There are 81 schools within 2 km, but only around 27% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — significantly below the national average of approximately 89%. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is roughly 1.8 km away. Families should check individual catchment boundaries carefully with Dudley Council's admissions team before choosing a street.
- How affordable is buying a home in Dudley 023?
- The median sale price is around £201,000 — relatively accessible by UK standards. On a typical local salary of around £30,800 a year, it takes roughly 3.3 years to save a standard deposit. That's one of the more manageable deposit timelines in the West Midlands, though rising rents make saving harder than the headline figure suggests.