Is Lewisham a good place to live?
Lewisham scores 57 out of 100 on our Liveability index, 13th of London's 33 boroughs. It does best on transport (74) and environment (72), and least well on safety (24). The highest-scoring wards are Greenwich Creekside, Blackheath and Crofton Park.
Each part compares Lewisham with the rest of London, where 100 is the best. The score uses our default weights; on the map you can set your own.
Is Lewisham safe?
Police recorded about 3,386 crimes a month in Lewisham from June to August 2026, about 95 per square kilometre, above the London borough median of 63. The most common were violence and sexual offences (31%), anti-social behaviour (20%) and shoplifting (9%).
Recorded crime follows footfall: busy town centres and transport hubs record more, which says little about quiet residential streets. Check the exact street with an area report.
Does Lewisham flood?
About 16% of Lewisham's land is in Flood Zone 2 or 3, the Environment Agency's zones for flooding from rivers or the sea, against 13% across London. About 12% sits in Flood Zone 3, the highest risk band. The zones ignore flood defences and do not cover surface water flooding.
Are there good schools in Lewisham?
Lewisham has 65 state primary and 14 state secondary schools, plus 6 independent schools. Of the state schools with a current single Ofsted grade, 98% are good or outstanding and 12% are outstanding, against a London borough median of 24% outstanding. Outstanding schools include Gordonbrock Primary School, John Stainer Community Primary School and Brindishe Manor School.
Ofsted stopped giving a single overall grade in September 2024, so recently inspected schools have none. Always check admissions and catchment rules with the school or council.
How good is public transport in Lewisham?
Lewisham has 21 Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR or tram stations on the DLR, National Rail and Windrush (Overground), in fare zones 2 and 3. About 20% of the borough has good or better access (TfL PTAL 4 to 6b), against 15% of London.
How much does it cost to live in Lewisham?
The average home in Lewisham cost £489,602 in March 2026 (HM Land Registry), up 13.2% over five years. The average private rent was £1,816 a month (ONS, May 2026 release), a gross yield of about 4.5%. Homes cost 11.5 times average local earnings.
What is the air quality like in Lewisham?
Nitrogen dioxide averaged 22 µg/m³ across Lewisham in 2022 (London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory), against a London median of 20 and a World Health Organization guideline of 10. Fine particles (PM2.5) averaged 9 µg/m³ against a guideline of 5. Air is usually worst beside main roads.
What are the shops, parks and GPs like in Lewisham?
OpenStreetMap lists 48 supermarkets, 22 GP surgeries and 41 pharmacies in Lewisham, and 87 public parks covering about 416 hectares. About 20% of the borough is in a conservation area, where outside changes usually need permission.
How deprived is Lewisham?
The typical neighbourhood in Lewisham is in decile 4 of 10 on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of England and 10 the least. About 22% of the borough is in the most deprived fifth.
Which parts of Lewisham score best?
The highest Liveability scores in Lewisham are in Greenwich Creekside, Blackheath and Crofton Park, and the lowest in New Cross Gate and Hither Green. Every ward is below, with its scores for safety, transport, shops, green space and schools out of 100.
| Ward | Liveability | Safety | Transport | Shops | Green | Schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenwich Creekside | 64 | 17 | 92 | 91 | 82 | 65 |
| Blackheath | 61 | 23 | 83 | 74 | 74 | 61 |
| Crofton Park | 61 | 30 | 76 | 69 | 50 | 72 |
| Brockley | 59 | 13 | 89 | 76 | 55 | 79 |
| Forest Hill | 59 | 37 | 75 | 56 | 58 | 67 |
| Sydenham | 59 | 21 | 75 | 76 | 61 | 68 |
| Deptford | 58 | 9 | 87 | 83 | 60 | 84 |
| Ladywell | 58 | 9 | 84 | 78 | 80 | 62 |
| Lee Green | 57 | 33 | 74 | 75 | 49 | 58 |
| Lewisham Central | 57 | 7 | 99 | 91 | 53 | 71 |
| Rushey Green | 57 | 9 | 86 | 77 | 76 | 68 |
| Telegraph Hill | 57 | 24 | 81 | 62 | 47 | 77 |
| Downham | 56 | 30 | 58 | 66 | 81 | 64 |
| Bellingham | 54 | 23 | 53 | 50 | 68 | 64 |
| Perry Vale | 54 | 24 | 57 | 69 | 48 | 81 |
| Grove Park | 54 | 44 | 54 | 53 | 52 | 52 |
| Catford South | 52 | 24 | 74 | 64 | 54 | 56 |
| Evelyn | 49 | 14 | 47 | 77 | 68 | 65 |
| New Cross Gate | 49 | 16 | 72 | 56 | 56 | 64 |
| Hither Green | 49 | 32 | 57 | 41 | 50 | 57 |
Nearby areas
Where these numbers come from
- Crime: police.uk street-level crime, June to August 2026, averaged per month.
- Flood zones and conservation areas: Environment Agency Flood Map for Planning and local authority conservation areas, via planning.data.gov.uk.
- Schools: Department for Education Get Information About Schools, with Ofsted grades.
- Transport: TfL stations and PTAL 2023. Air quality: London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory 2022.
- Prices: HM Land Registry UK House Price Index (March 2026) and ONS private rents (May 2026 release) and affordability ratios.
- Shops, GPs and parks: OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Deprivation: English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG).
- Liveability: our score for each ~500 m square of London, built from the sources above; borough and ward figures are medians of their squares.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right. © OpenStreetMap contributors. Powered by TfL Open Data.