Best Streets and Areas to Live in Newcastle City Centre

Newcastle city centre is small enough to cross on foot in half an hour, but the character of its residential pockets varies a great deal. A flat above a Grey Street shopfront, an apartment on the river, a converted building in the Ouseburn and a Georgian terrace off Summerhill Square are four very different ways of living within a mile of Monument.

A useful starting point is that much of central Newcastle is protected. The city council lists 12 conservation areas, and four of them cover the places in this guide: Central, Leazes, Lower Ouseburn Valley and Summerhill. That shapes what the homes look like and what owners can change. For the practical side of centre living (transport, shopping, GPs and schools), read our Moving to Newcastle City Centre guide alongside this one.

Grainger Town: Living Above the Classical Streets

Grainger Town is the heart of the Central Conservation Area, built around the Tyneside classical streets Richard Grainger laid out between 1834 and 1839: Grey Street, Grainger Street, Clayton Street and their neighbours. The council notes that around 40% of buildings here are listed.

Homes are almost entirely flats, mostly on the upper floors of period buildings. By the early 1990s around a million square feet of floor space here stood empty, mainly upper floors, and the residential population was falling. The Grainger Town Project (1997 to 2003) set out to reverse that, and the council says it far exceeded its objectives.

Day to day you have the Victorian Grainger Market for fresh food and Monument Metro, where the Green and Yellow lines cross, on your doorstep. The trade-offs are few gardens, limited parking and busy streets at night, particularly near the Bigg Market. Our Grainger Town heritage walk is a good way to get to know the streets before you start viewing.

Best for: Best for people who want period architecture and to walk everywhere, and who can live without a garden.

The Quayside: Riverside Apartments

The Quayside riverfront is also within the Central Conservation Area, which the council describes as having a "residential/commercial" character along the Quayside frontage. Homes on and around the Newcastle Quayside are mainly apartments, a mix of converted offices and warehouses and purpose-built blocks, many with views of the bridges.

There is no Metro station on the river itself: Central Station and Monument are both a walk up the steep banks, which is worth knowing if you have mobility needs or a pushchair. The riverside path and the Sunday market are big draws. Expect the busiest stretches to be lively on Friday and Saturday nights.

Best for: Best for river views and riverside walks, if you do not mind a climb to the Metro.

Lower Ouseburn Valley: The Creative Quarter

East of the centre, the Lower Ouseburn Valley Conservation Area was designated in October 2000. The council calls the valley one of the main cradles of the Industrial Revolution on Tyneside, and it still contains Ouseburn School (grade II*), several grade II listed buildings and a stretch of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site.

Housing in and around the Ouseburn Valley mixes older stock with newer apartment developments, set among studios, workshops and some of the city's best-loved venues: The Cluny, The Cumberland Arms and the charity-run city farm Ouseburn Farm. Manors and Byker Metro stations are both reachable on foot, though the valley sides are steep. Live music and late licences are part of the appeal, so check what is next door before you commit.

Best for: Best for people who want a creative, independent neighbourhood with green space in the valley bottom.

Leazes: Georgian Terraces by the Park

The Leazes Conservation Area, designated in September 1974, is dominated by Leazes Park, the oldest green space in Newcastle, and the late Georgian terraces around it. Leazes Terrace, Leazes Crescent and the St Thomas estate were designed by Thomas Oliver, and the council counts 59 grade I and 105 grade II listed buildings in the area.

Leazes Terrace itself, which is grade I listed, is now Newcastle University student accommodation, so the area has a strong student presence. It also sits right beside St James' Park, so match days bring big crowds. In return you get the park on your doorstep, the Town Moor just beyond, St James Metro a few minutes away and both universities within walking distance.

Best for: Best for park lovers and anyone working at the universities or hospitals. Check the fixture list before viewing.

Summerhill: The Quiet Georgian Square

Just west of the centre, between Westgate Road and Westmorland Road, the Summerhill Conservation Area (designated 1970) is the closest thing central Newcastle has to a residential square. The council describes it as a late Georgian suburb of listed terraces set around an informal open space and garden plots, with terraces ranging from very grand ones facing Summerhill Square to much simpler ones.

Many houses have been converted into flats, and a few into offices, but the area has kept much of its residential character. It includes the grade II* Church of St Matthew and around 80 grade II listed buildings, with the historic Westgate Hill Cemetery at its western end. An Article 4 Direction covers several streets, including Summerhill Grove, Summerhill Terrace and Winchester Terrace. It removes some of the normal permitted development rights, so changes to things like windows and doors need planning permission. It is a walk rather than a Metro ride to Central Station, but noticeably quieter than the core.

Best for: Best for Georgian character and a calmer setting while staying walkable to town.

One to Watch: South of Central Station

The area south of Central Station was added to the Central Conservation Area in 2001 for its industrial heritage linked to Robert Stephenson. Part of it is the Stephenson Quarter, a mixed-use scheme whose developer lists the Crowne Plaza hotel, offices and the Boiler Shop venue, and says the rest of the site awaits development. It is not yet a residential neighbourhood.

How to Choose

Before you buy or rent, check the council's conservation area map to see whether a property is covered, and visit at 11pm on a Friday as well as on a weekday morning.

Live in one of these areas, or think we have missed a street? Get in touch and tell us.