Somers Town
Portsmouth 018 · 6 sub-areas · 11,010 residents
Portsmouth 018 is a densely populated neighbourhood within Portsmouth, home to around 11,000 people. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for about £1,124 a month — slightly below the national two-bed median — but rents consume a significant share of local take-home pay. High social housing concentration and a young demographic profile set it apart from much of the wider city.
Somers Town is a mid-density neighbourhood of Portsmouth 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 young, with a high concentration of 18- to 34-year-olds.
Overview
What's it like to live in Somers Town?
2 parks and 7 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; food and drink within walking distance is workable but not dense — around 34 restaurants and 7 pubs in five minutes; 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 £1,357 a month for a typical home; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 6 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Somers Town in Portsmouth
Living in Somers Town
Portsmouth 018 sits among the more densely settled parts of the city, with a character shaped less by waterfront postcard views and more by the everyday rhythm of a working neighbourhood. Nearly half the housing here is socially rented — a proportion far above the Portsmouth average — which gives the area a more settled, community-oriented feel than the student-heavy or transient pockets elsewhere in the city. Green space is accessible: the nearest open space is roughly 400 metres away, within comfortable walking distance for most residents.
On costs, the neighbourhood sits at the more affordable end of the Portsmouth market. A typical two-bed comes in at around £1,124 a month, slightly below the UK median for that bedroom size. The trade-off is that local earnings are modest — residents here earn a median of around £31,000 a year, which means rent still eats up a significant share of take-home pay. The rent-to-income ratio is high, at over 62%, so affordability is relative rather than comfortable.
The area skews young. Nearly four in ten residents are aged 18 to 34, and almost a quarter are under 18, giving the neighbourhood a notably youthful profile compared to the wider South East. Single-person households make up more than a third of all homes. Owner-occupation is rare — only around one in five homes is owner-occupied — which means the community is predominantly renters, either private or social.
The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 625 metres away — about an eight-minute walk — giving decent access to wider connections. For anyone thinking about sub-areas and street-level variation within Portsmouth 018, see the streets and sub-areas listed below.
What you'll need on day one
Compare Somers Town with
Frequently asked
- Is Portsmouth 018 a nice place to live?
- It depends on your priorities. Rents are relatively affordable and the nearest open space is under 500 metres away. The trade-off is a high crime rate — roughly twice the national average — and a deprivation score placing it in the second-most-deprived decile in England. It suits renters who value low costs and a young, mixed community over polish or quietude.
- What is the rent in Portsmouth 018?
- A one-bed runs around £893 a month, a two-bed around £1,124, and a three-bed around £1,345. These are estimates scaled from council-level ONS data using local sale prices. Rents rose roughly 2.7% over the past year. The two-bed figure is slightly below the national median of around £1,200.
- Is Portsmouth 018 safe?
- Crime runs at around 162 incidents per 1,000 residents annually — approximately double the UK national rate. The neighbourhood sits in the second-most-deprived decile in England, which correlates with higher crime. Street-level variation exists within the MSOA, so it's worth checking specific roads before committing.
- What's the commute from Portsmouth 018 to Portsmouth city centre?
- The nearest mainline rail station is about 625 metres away — roughly an eight-minute walk. Most short journeys within Portsmouth are done by car (37% of residents) or on foot. Public transport mode share is under 11%, suggesting bus connections to some parts of the city are limited.
- Who lives in Portsmouth 018?
- Predominantly young adults — nearly 40% of residents are aged 18 to 34 — alongside families with children. Most are renters, either in social housing (46%) or the private sector (33%). Owner-occupiers are rare at just one in five. It's a mixed community, with around a quarter of residents holding a degree.
- What schools are near Portsmouth 018?
- There are 132 schools within 2 km, so proximity isn't the issue — quality is. Only around 26% of nearby schools are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, well below the national average of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is about 4.4 km away. Individual inspection reports on Ofsted's website are the best guide.
- How affordable is buying a home in Portsmouth 018?
- Median house prices here are around £184,000, and the estimated time to save a deposit is about three years — relatively manageable by South East standards. The challenge is that rents consume over 62% of typical take-home pay, making saving difficult even if purchase prices look accessible on paper.