What it's like to live in Twickenham

Twickenham sits in a borough where home ownership dominates. Across Richmond upon Thames, 62.4% of homes are owned and 24.7% are privately rented, while 12.1% are social rented, below the England figure of 17.1%. Of that social housing, most is housing association rather than council: 9.8% against 2.3%.

The biggest social landlords in the borough are Richmond Housing Partnership with around 6,397 homes, Paragon Asra Housing with 1,836, London & Quadrant with 588, Metropolitan Housing Trust with 523 and The Guinness Partnership with 206. Average weekly social rents in 2024/25 were about £139 for a one bed, £155 for two beds and £165 for three.

The age profile leans towards families and settled households: 20.1% of borough residents are under 16 and 28.5% are aged 45 to 64, both above the England average, while the 16 to 24 share is lower. At 31 March 2025 the council's housing register held 2,880 households, with 453 social homes let through the council in 2024-25.

There is a good spread of primary schools close by. St Mary's Church of England Primary School is about 0.1 miles away, with Orleans Primary School at 0.3 miles, St Stephen's C of E at 0.6 miles and Twickenham Primary Academy at 0.7 miles. St Richard Reynolds Catholic College is 0.4 miles out. Always check the current admissions criteria with the council, as distances shift year to year.

For older children, Orleans Park School is around 0.3 miles away. Also within a mile and a half are Kneller Hall School senior school, St. Catherine's School, Capella House School secondary centre and Clarendon School secondary centre, which includes specialist provision.

Beyond school, Heatham House is a well-known youth and community venue about 0.4 miles away, and the E.T.N.A. Community Centre and Community Corner add more local activity space. Twickenham Library is on the doorstep, and the nearby gardens give younger children somewhere to run about. Cassel Hospital is around 1.3 miles away.

Trains are the backbone here. Twickenham station is about 0.2 miles from the centre, with St Margarets half a mile away and Strawberry Hill, Fulwell and Whitton all within a mile and a half. That gives you several options into Waterloo and across south-west London, which helps when one line is disrupted.

Buses run through the town, and Richmond Bus Station, about 1.2 miles away, is the bigger interchange if you need a wider choice of routes. For drivers, Twickenham connects easily to the main roads around Richmond, Isleworth and Hounslow, though parking near the station and on match days can be a test of patience.

On foot, Twickenham works well. The shops, library, pharmacies and gyms are clustered within a few minutes of each other, and the riverside paths and gardens make for pleasant walking rather than just getting from A to B. Cycling along the flatter riverside routes is popular too.

The parks are the main draw. York House Gardens sits right by the town centre, with Orleans House Gardens, Diamond Jubilee Gardens, Holly Road Garden and Champions Wharf all within a short walk. Between them you get formal gardens, riverside space and somewhere to spend a free afternoon without spending money.

The pub scene is strong for a town this size. The William Webb Ellis, The Eel Pie, The Fox, Bear Tavern and The Barmy Arms are all within about 0.1 miles of the centre, several of them near the river. Viva, roughly a mile away, covers later nights.

For films, Richmond is the place: Curzon Richmond and the Odeon, including its studio screens, are all around 1.1 miles away. Closer to home there is plenty for keeping active, with Heartspace, The Yoga Bar, Joe's Reformer Pilates, Anytime Fitness and PureGym all within walking distance. Several libraries, including Ham and Isleworth, are also within range.

Richmond upon Thames has a strong employment picture. Across the borough, 62.6% of adults are in work, against 57.4% for England, and unemployment sits at 3.4%, just below the England figure of 3.5%. Claims for unemployment-related benefits were 2.6% of working-age residents in August 2026, compared with 4% nationally.

Those figures cover the whole council area of about 195,000 people, not Twickenham alone, but they point to a local economy with plenty of work in it. Much of it is service-based: shops, hospitality, schools, health and care, and the offices and small businesses dotted around Richmond and Twickenham town centres.

Many residents also commute. With five railway stations within a mile and a half and direct links towards Waterloo, jobs in central London and across south-west London are realistic without moving house. If you drive, the road network towards Hounslow and the wider west London employment areas is close at hand.