Terraced and semi-detached streets dominate here, the kind of solid, unfussy housing stock that's been sold and resold rather than newly built — there's no new-build activity to speak of, and the market is almost entirely older freehold homes rather than flats or leasehold flats. It reads as a settled, working suburb rather than a place people pass through: the median age sits close to 47, noticeably older than the national average, and the streets have the feel of people who've been there a while rather than a churn of renters. The practical picture is where Allerdene earns its keep. Housing is genuinely affordable — a median price around £130,000 is well under half the national figure and still comfortably below the Gateshead average, which explains the top affordability grade. That combination of an older population, modest incomes (income sits in the bottom fifth nationally, even though the wider deprivation picture is closer to average) and cheap housing points to a place bought outright or paid down over decades rather than a first-time-buyer launchpad. Schools are a mixed bag rather than a single story: Harlow Green Community Primary and the Oakfield Infant and Junior schools all carry Good ratings, giving families a solid primary option, but the secondary picture is tougher — Grace College is rated Requires Improvement with progress scores well below where they should be, which matters if you're planning past age eleven. Transport is modest rather than a selling point: nine local stops rather than a rail hub, so this suits someone who drives or bus-commutes rather than someone chasing a fast train into a city centre. Green space is the honest trade-off: the area has effectively one plot of open ground, well under a hectare, in a suburb that's already dense — population density here runs noticeably higher than the national average, so gardens and street life do more of the work than any park does. Eating out and evening life are thin by the numbers, which tracks with the C grade for nightlife; this is a place for a local pub and a chippy rather than a night out. The one grade that jars against an otherwise steady B-range profile is safety, sitting at C+, and the crime figures explain why: shoplifting and violent and sexual offences together make up close to half of all recorded crime, and the overall rate runs far above the Gateshead average. Health is similarly a C, worth weighing rather than ignoring. None of this makes the place unsafe to walk around, but it's the number that should temper the otherwise reassuring picture of solid homes and improving house prices. This is a suburb for people who've already decided that affordability, space and a settled community matter more than nightlife, parkland or a fast commute — established homeowners, older residents, or anyone buying on a tight budget who wants a house rather than a flat. Anyone weighing it up should look hard at the secondary school and the crime mix rather than the headline price, because that's where the real trade-offs sit.