High Spen
High Spen is a village in Tyne & Wear, England, with a population of around 2,500. It has around 3 restaurants and cafés, 23 bus stops, and the nearest railway station is Wylam, 5.2 km away. There were around 13 recorded street crimes in June 2026, most commonly Anti-social behaviour. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the High Spen area — all from official UK open data.
On deprivation, the Gateshead area is among the most deprived areas in England (IoD2025). The wider council area has around 196,151 residents at roughly 1,378 people per km².
- Council
- Gateshead
- County
- Tyne & Wear
- Constituency
- Blaydon
- Police force
- Northumbria
My Area Score
Mixed
Ranked 191st of 294 English council areas — better than 35% of them.
A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology
Weather
7°COvercast
- Today: 9° / 6° · 61% rain
- Tomorrow: 9° / 6° · Patchy rain nearby
Source: WeatherAPI
Daylight
Sunrise 07:16Sunset 16:24
9h 8m of daylight today
Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec
Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk
Air quality
34US AQI · Good
Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)
Source: WAQI · Newcastle Centre, United Kingdom
Air pollution (PM2.5)
- 6.0 µg/m³ average fine-particle (PM2.5) concentration
- 4.5% of adult (30+) deaths estimated attributable to fine-particle pollution
Lower is better for both figures.
Source: OHID Fingertips · 2024
Crime
8 reported · August 2026▼ 58% YoY
- Anti-social behaviour3
- Violence & sexual offences3
- Criminal damage & arson1
- Vehicle crime1
Neighbourhood team: Blaydon, Winlaton, Ryton, Rowlands Gill and Chopwell (Gateshead Outer West) · Northumbria
Local policing priorities
- Motorcycle disorder in Winlaton, Chopwell, Ryton
- Acquisitive crime including shoplifting
Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)
Road safety
251 reported road collisions (2025)
53 killed or seriously injured · 325 casualties · 12.8 collisions per 10,000 residents
Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)
Food hygiene
54 food businesses within 2 miles
- 49 rated 4–5 ★ (42 top)
- 0 rated 0–2 (poor)
Source: Food Standards Agency
Flood risk
Buses & trains
- Nearest station: Wylam (4.8 km)
- 23 bus stops within ~½ mile
Live trains from Wylam (4.8 km):
Loading live departures…
Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail
House prices
£156,036 average▲ 4.4% YoY
Across Gateshead · to 2026-08
Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)
Private rents
£804 average monthly rent▲ 5.8% YoY
- 1 bed £590
- 2 bed £723
- 3 bed £844
Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-08
Affordability
4.9× house price to earnings
A typical home costs 4.9 times median annual pay (4.7× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).
Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025
Property sales
2,429 property sales in the last 12 months
12 months to May 2026
A busier or quieter market is not by itself good or bad. Monthly counts are small and volatile, so only the annual total is shown.
Source: HM Land Registry UK HPI, 12 months to 2026-05
Fuel prices
- Cheapest petrol: 155.9p · Esso (9.7 km)
- Cheapest diesel: 188.9p · Esso (9.7 km)
11 stations within ~8 miles
Source: CMA fuel price scheme
EV charging
31 charging locations within ~8 km
- 13 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
- Fastest nearby: 350 kW
- Nearest: Northern Gas Networks Thornley Lane (3.5 km)
Source: Open Charge Map
Sport & leisure
- Sports pitches9
- Golf courses1
- Playgrounds3
Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)
Population
196,151 residents in Gateshead · 1,378/km²
- Under 16: 18%
- 16–64: 62%
- 65+: 20%
Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)
Internal migration
- Moves in from elsewhere in the UK10,488
- Moves out to elsewhere in the UK9,712
- Net moves+776
Residential moves between local authorities (counts of moves, not people) · ONS Internal migration, YE Jun 2025
Deprivation
Among the most deprived areas in England
Ranked 58 of 296 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)
19% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%
Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2025
Council tax
£2,716 a year · Band D, 2026-27
Most homes here are Band A (59% of 95,470)
Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27
Schools
93 schools · 30,087 pupils
66 primary · 9 secondary · 18 other
Ofsted: 31 of 32 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (97%)
84 inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)
Secondary schools:
- Cardinal Hume Catholic School, GatesheadOutstanding
- Kingsmeadow Community SchoolGood
- Lord Lawson of Beamish AcademyGood
- St Thomas More Catholic School, BlaydonGood
- Grace CollegeRequires improvement
- Heworth Grange School
- Thorp Academy
- Whickham School
- XP Gateshead
Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Gateshead
Care & health services
191 CQC-registered services
- Care homes50
- GP practices36
- Dentists40
- Homecare agencies44
- Hospitals & hospices2
CQC ratings: 97% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 2 Inadequate
Source: Care Quality Commission · Gateshead
Heritage & planning
- Not in the Green Belt
- 2 listed buildings within ~1.5 km
Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)
Planning decisions
140 applications decided
87.1% granted · 122 granted, 18 refused
Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q2
Your MP
Liz Twist
Labour
Blaydon and Consett
Recent votes:
- AyeBudget Resolution No. 86: High value council tax surcharge
- AyeBudget Resolution No. 76: Rates of alcohol duty
- AyeBudget Resolution No. 55: Value added tax (electric vehicle charging)
- AyeBudget Resolution No. 15: Charges in connection with employment visas
Source: UK Parliament
Council control
Reform UK majority
- Lab 12
- LD 12
- Grn 3
- Ref 38
- Oth 1
Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)
Amenities nearby
- Schools1
- Parks & greens2
- Restaurants & cafés3
Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)
Local businesses
7,160 active business enterprises in the area
Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2026)
Jobs
2 jobs advertised
e.g. Catering Assistant, Care Assistant
Source: Adzuna
Local economy
£675 median full-time weekly pay
4% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits
£19,745 disposable income per head (2024)
Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI
Energy efficiency
46% of homes rated EPC C or above
Most common band: D · 97,223 certificates
10% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)
Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty
Grid electricity
58% low-carbon electricity
Imports 42% · Nuclear 35% · Wind 24%
1 gCO₂/kWh · very low intensity
Latest estimate for North East England · National Grid ESO
Health
Life expectancy: 81.5 yrs women · 77.8 yrs men
Healthy life expectancy: 58.4 women · 58 men
70% of adults overweight or obese
Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025
Wellbeing
- Life satisfaction7.3
- Feeling worthwhile7.7
- Happiness yesterday7.4
- Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)3.4
Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23
Health services
0 GP surgeries · 1 pharmacy in NE39
Source: NHS Organisation Data Service
Local petitions
Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in Blaydon and Consett:
- Change surrogacy law to recognise intended parents from birth281 local signatures · 113,305 nationwide
- Remove sentence reductions for guilty pleas in controlling and coercive cases204 local signatures · 105,832 nationwide
- Protect legal right to support for children with SEND176 local signatures · 111,357 nationwide
- Mandate standardised cancer training for all GPs in England176 local signatures · 18,645 nationwide
- Launch a public inquiry into illegal migration in the UK165 local signatures · 78,478 nationwide
Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-10-05
Notable places nearby
- High Spen · 0.5 km
High Spen is an old mining village in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, historically part of County Durham, England. First recorded in 1379 as a small hamlet called ‘Spen’, the settlement grew in the latter half…
- Hookergate School · 1.1 km
Hookergate School was a secondary school and sixth form located in High Spen in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, England.
Greenside, Tyne and Wear · 2.1 kmGreenside is a village in the extreme west of the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, England. Once an independent village in County Durham, it became incorporated into Tyne and Wear in 1974 and then the Metropolita…
Whinfield coke works · 2.6 kmWhinfield coke works was a large industrial complex located near Rowlands Gill in Tyne and Wear, North East England. The complex comprised a coking plant, alloy factory and power station. Waste heat from the plant pro…
Chopwell · 2.7 kmChopwell is a village in the Gateshead district, in the county of Tyne and Wear, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) west of Rowlands Gill and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Hamsterley. At the 2011 Census, it had a population of 9,395.
Leadgate, Northumberland · 2.8 kmLeadgate is a hamlet just outside Chopwell in southern Northumberland, England. It is 4.5 miles (7.3 km) southeast of Stocksfield and 1 mile (1.8 km) northwest of Chopwell. The hamlet borders onto the Metropolitan bor…
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)
Nearby towns
Compare Gateshead with nearby areas
Frequently asked questions
- Where is High Spen?
- High Spen is a town in Tyne & Wear, England, in the Gateshead local authority.
- How deprived is High Spen?
- The Gateshead local authority, which includes High Spen, is among the most deprived areas in England on the IoD2025.