Is Waltham Forest a good place to live?
Waltham Forest scores 55 out of 100 on our Liveability index, 19th of London's 33 boroughs. It does best on environment (77) and shops and services (67), and least well on safety (38). The highest-scoring wards are Leytonstone, Cann Hall and High Street.
Each part compares Waltham Forest 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 Waltham Forest safe?
Police recorded about 2,442 crimes a month in Waltham Forest from June to August 2026, about 64 per square kilometre, close to the London borough median of 63. The most common were violence and sexual offences (27%), anti-social behaviour (25%) 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 Waltham Forest flood?
About 12% of Waltham Forest'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 8% 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 Waltham Forest?
Waltham Forest has 51 state primary and 18 state secondary schools, plus 5 independent schools. Of the state schools with a current single Ofsted grade, 98% are good or outstanding and 21% are outstanding, against a London borough median of 24% outstanding. Outstanding schools include South Grove Primary School, Walthamstow School for Girls and Yardley 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 Waltham Forest?
Waltham Forest has 12 Underground, Overground, Elizabeth line, DLR or tram stations on the Victoria, Suffragette (Overground), Central, Weaver (Overground) and National Rail, in fare zones 2, 3, 4 and 5. About 12% 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 Waltham Forest?
The average home in Waltham Forest cost £528,353 in March 2026 (HM Land Registry), up 7.6% over five years. The average private rent was £1,758 a month (ONS, May 2026 release), a gross yield of about 4%. Homes cost 12.5 times average local earnings.
What is the air quality like in Waltham Forest?
Nitrogen dioxide averaged 20 µg/m³ across Waltham Forest 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 Waltham Forest?
OpenStreetMap lists 53 supermarkets, 43 GP surgeries and 44 pharmacies in Waltham Forest, and 50 public parks covering about 144 hectares. About 4% of the borough is in a conservation area, where outside changes usually need permission.
How deprived is Waltham Forest?
The typical neighbourhood in Waltham Forest is in decile 5 of 10 on the English Indices of Deprivation 2025, where 1 is the most deprived tenth of England and 10 the least. About 14% of the borough is in the most deprived fifth.
Which parts of Waltham Forest score best?
The highest Liveability scores in Waltham Forest are in Leytonstone, Cann Hall and High Street, and the lowest in Upper Walthamstow and St James. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leytonstone | 63 | 21 | 91 | 83 | 55 | 66 |
| Cann Hall | 60 | 16 | 61 | 88 | 64 | 92 |
| High Street | 59 | 12 | 89 | 90 | 36 | 78 |
| Cathall | 58 | 15 | 89 | 82 | 58 | 68 |
| Grove Green | 58 | 15 | 83 | 78 | 45 | 76 |
| Markhouse | 58 | 8 | 87 | 86 | 35 | 83 |
| Chapel End | 57 | 24 | 68 | 72 | 46 | 84 |
| Forest | 57 | 26 | 71 | 78 | 45 | 46 |
| Endlebury | 56 | 56 | 41 | 53 | 55 | 56 |
| Wood Street | 56 | 20 | 75 | 88 | 24 | 67 |
| Hatch Lane & Highams Park North | 55 | 65 | 43 | 56 | 41 | 55 |
| Higham Hill | 55 | 39 | 48 | 53 | 63 | 64 |
| Hoe Street | 55 | 8 | 89 | 80 | 37 | 54 |
| Larkswood | 55 | 40 | 57 | 71 | 29 | 68 |
| Lea Bridge | 55 | 36 | 60 | 64 | 73 | 64 |
| Leyton | 54 | 19 | 60 | 81 | 70 | 62 |
| William Morris | 54 | 11 | 60 | 79 | 55 | 74 |
| Valley | 53 | 40 | 41 | 73 | 35 | 55 |
| Hale End & Highams Park South | 52 | 50 | 46 | 53 | 31 | 68 |
| Chingford Green | 49 | 72 | 37 | 39 | 4 | 44 |
| Upper Walthamstow | 47 | 49 | 35 | 47 | 38 | 42 |
| St James | 45 | 46 | 0 | 39 | 47 | 51 |
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.