Hexthorpe & Balby North
Doncaster 023 · 4 sub-areas · 6,853 residents
Doncaster 023 is a residential area within Doncaster, home to around 6,850 people and one of the more affordable corners of Yorkshire. A typical two-bedroom home lets for around £627 a month — well below the UK median for a 2-bed and noticeably cheaper than most comparable areas in the region. Rents rose roughly 5.7% over the past year, but the overall cost of living here remains low.
Hexthorpe & Balby North is a commuter neighbourhood within Doncaster — train into Sheffield runs in around 38 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it.
Overview
What's it like to live in Hexthorpe & Balby North?
2 parks and 3 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; there's effectively nothing within walking distance — eating out, drinking and shopping mean a drive; 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 below the national norm, with a typical home letting at around £684 a month; 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.
Hexthorpe & Balby North in Doncaster
Living in Hexthorpe & Balby North
This part of Doncaster stands out for one thing above most others: how far your money goes. With a median monthly rent of around £684 across all property sizes, you're looking at costs that most cities in the South would consider impossible. That's not a hidden trade-off — it's simply a different price point for ordinary housing.
The rent gradient here sits comfortably below the wider Doncaster average, and well below the UK national median for a two-bedroom home of around £1,200 a month. A 1-bed runs about £486, a 2-bed around £627, and a 3-bed around £745. If you're buying, the median sale price is under £95,000 — meaning a deposit is achievable in roughly 18 months on a typical local salary. That's a genuine rarity in today's market.
The neighbourhood has a mixed tenure profile that reflects its character: around a third of residents own their homes, just under a third rent privately, and roughly a third are in social housing. That's an unusually high social housing concentration compared to most areas in Yorkshire. The population skews slightly young — just under a quarter of residents are aged 18 to 34 — alongside a solid share of families, with children making up 22% of the population. Single-person households account for four in ten homes, giving the area a mix of life stages rather than any single dominant demographic.
Practically, the nearest mainline rail station is about 1.1 km away — a 14-minute walk — which keeps you connected to the wider network. The major employment centres are reachable in under 40 minutes at their closest. Almost all homes here have full gigabit broadband, and there are no connections falling below the universal service obligation. See the streets and sub-areas below for more detail on specific pockets of the neighbourhood.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Doncaster 023 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're prioritising. The cost of living is very low — rents are around half the UK median — and greenspace is close by, with over 80% of residents within walking distance of green areas. The trade-off is that schools underperform the national average and crime rates are elevated. It suits renters on tighter budgets more than those with families focused on school quality.
- What is the rent in Doncaster 023?
- A one-bedroom home runs around £486 a month, a two-bedroom around £627, and a three-bedroom around £745. These are estimates scaled from Doncaster-wide official data using local sale prices. Rents rose about 5.7% over the past year, but remain among the lowest you'll find in Yorkshire.
- Is Doncaster 023 safe?
- Crime runs at around 204 incidents per 1,000 residents annually, which is significantly above the UK national rate of roughly 80 per 1,000. The area falls in the most deprived 20% of English neighbourhoods, which correlates with higher crime rates broadly. It's not uniformly unsafe street by street, but the overall figure is worth factoring in.
- What's the commute from Doncaster 023 to Doncaster centre?
- The nearest mainline rail station is about 1.1 km away — a 14-minute walk. From there, the nearest major job hub is around 36 minutes by public transport. Most residents drive: nearly 60% commute by car. Connectivity to Leeds, Manchester, and Birmingham by rail ranges from 96 to 104 minutes.
- Who lives in Doncaster 023?
- A fairly mixed community — around a third of residents own, a third rent privately, and a third are in social housing. Single-person households make up four in ten homes. The area has a younger skew, with about 23% of residents aged 18 to 34, alongside a significant share of families with children under 18.
- What schools are near Doncaster 023?
- There are 56 schools within 2 km of typical residents, so options are plentiful — but only around 39% are rated Good or Outstanding, well below the national average of around 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is just over 5 km away. Families should check specific catchment boundaries, as quality varies considerably between individual schools.
- Is Doncaster 023 affordable to buy in?
- Very. The median sale price is just under £95,000, and a typical deposit takes around 18 months to save on a local salary — one of the fastest timelines in England. That said, the median local salary is around £31,000 a year, so mortgage affordability depends on your household income and lender criteria.