St Jude's

Terraced streets packed tight, Victorian bay windows facing each other across narrow roads, and a density that tells you immediately this isn't a place built around cars — St Jude's feels more like an inner-city pocket than a typical South West suburb, which at over four times the national average population density, it effectively is. You'll see young adults more than families here; the median age sits a decade below the national figure, and the terraced houses and flats that dominate the streets suit that crowd better than they'd suit a household needing four bedrooms and a garden.

The housing story is really a price story. A typical sale lands around the low-£200,000s, cheaper than Plymouth's own median and well under the national figure, which is why the area sits toward the less affluent end of the income and deprivation scales nationally. Freehold terraces dominate what's for sale — about two-thirds of transactions are freehold, and the flats trade notably below their national equivalents while the terraces hold up closer to typical prices. That gap between flat and house values is worth sitting with if you're weighing which to buy. On schooling, the one sampled option locally is rated Good rather than Outstanding, though Salisbury Road Primary and Holy Cross Catholic Primary — both Good academies — sit in the surrounding area if you're prepared to look slightly wider. Getting around relies on a modest cluster of bus stops rather than rail, so this suits someone whose commute doesn't depend on a train.