Is Newham a good place to live?
Newham scores 54 out of 100 on our Liveability index, 24th of London's 33 boroughs. It does best on transport (74) and schools (70), and least well on safety (15). The highest-scoring wards are Plaistow North, East Ham and Boleyn.
Each part compares Newham 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 Newham safe?
Police recorded about 4,295 crimes a month in Newham from June to August 2026, about 119 per square kilometre, above the London borough median of 63. The most common were violence and sexual offences (27%), anti-social behaviour (21%) and vehicle crime (10%).
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 Newham flood?
About 52% of Newham'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 39% 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 Newham?
Newham has 66 state primary and 21 state secondary schools, plus 7 independent schools. Of the state schools with a current single Ofsted grade, 100% are good or outstanding and 36% are outstanding, against a London borough median of 24% outstanding. Outstanding schools include Brampton Primary School, Keir Hardie Primary School and St Stephen's Primary 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 Newham?
Newham has 28 Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR or tram stations on the Jubilee, DLR, District, Hammersmith & City, Central and Mildmay (Overground) and more, in fare zones 2 and 3. About 32% 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 Newham?
The average home in Newham cost £384,258 in March 2026 (HM Land Registry), up 1.4% over five years. The average private rent was £1,918 a month (ONS, May 2026 release), a gross yield of about 6%. Homes cost 11.7 times average local earnings.
What is the air quality like in Newham?
Nitrogen dioxide averaged 22 µg/m³ across Newham 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 Newham?
OpenStreetMap lists 47 supermarkets, 51 GP surgeries and 58 pharmacies in Newham, and 70 public parks covering about 309 hectares. About 2% of the borough is in a conservation area, where outside changes usually need permission.
How deprived is Newham?
The typical neighbourhood in Newham is in decile 3 of 10 on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of England and 10 the least. About 46% of the borough is in the most deprived fifth.
Which parts of Newham score best?
The highest Liveability scores in Newham are in Plaistow North, East Ham and Boleyn, and the lowest in Beckton and Royal Albert. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plaistow North | 60 | 8 | 87 | 83 | 44 | 91 |
| East Ham | 60 | 7 | 92 | 89 | 58 | 84 |
| Boleyn | 59 | 7 | 82 | 77 | 55 | 89 |
| Plashet | 59 | 9 | 89 | 74 | 45 | 81 |
| West Ham | 59 | 11 | 91 | 86 | 81 | 68 |
| Maryland | 58 | 6 | 81 | 88 | 43 | 87 |
| Plaistow West & Canning Town East | 58 | 11 | 87 | 84 | 62 | 77 |
| Plaistow South | 58 | 13 | 81 | 80 | 68 | 87 |
| Forest Gate South | 57 | 7 | 69 | 83 | 70 | 80 |
| Stratford Olympic Park | 56 | 8 | 97 | 73 | 93 | 34 |
| Green Street West | 56 | 8 | 83 | 85 | 46 | 79 |
| Custom House | 55 | 17 | 88 | 63 | 75 | 70 |
| Forest Gate North | 55 | 10 | 74 | 76 | 56 | 68 |
| Green Street East | 55 | 6 | 79 | 90 | 38 | 79 |
| Stratford | 55 | 16 | 94 | 77 | 51 | 60 |
| Manor Park | 54 | 18 | 84 | 75 | 15 | 76 |
| Canning Town North | 53 | 19 | 84 | 62 | 56 | 62 |
| Canning Town South | 52 | 9 | 90 | 76 | 57 | 63 |
| East Ham South | 52 | 23 | 51 | 58 | 58 | 74 |
| Royal Victoria | 51 | 16 | 69 | 61 | 63 | 61 |
| Wall End | 50 | 13 | 62 | 67 | 48 | 78 |
| Little Ilford | 48 | 18 | 48 | 58 | 48 | 64 |
| Beckton | 46 | 42 | 48 | 56 | 35 | 47 |
| Royal Albert | 45 | 43 | 64 | 50 | 47 | 42 |
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.