What are London’s most dangerous boroughs? The spike in crime rates in London this year has left many with concerns. Is my borough safe? And will house prices fall in London’s new ‘crime hotspots’? A new survey reveals all…

Based on the latest official police data and the January 2018 UK House Price Index, new research by Goodmove.co.uk has revealed the capital’s new crime hotspots, and how property prices in those areas are being affected.

So if you’re thinking of moving, or investing in a buy-to-let rental, read on…

Croydon and Camden share the honours of being the most dangerous boroughs in London, both featuring twice in the list of breakout crime hotspots.

Camden has seen a huge rise in crime over the past year, with incidents of theft up by 131%. House prices, in contrast, have fallen by 4.04%.

Croydon saw a 36% increase in drug-related offences and a 45.92% increase in bicycle theft, yet property prices rose by 2.42%.

Croydon and Camden share the honours of being the most dangerous boroughs in London

The City of Westminster had the highest total number of crimes, and property prices have dipped by 1.38%.

It’s bad news for residents of Redbridge, too, as the borough is Greater London’s burglary hotspot with a 37.36% rise in reported incidents over the past year. However, house prices in Redbridge increased by 5.87%, demonstrating a pretty resilient property market.

The only borough that saw a significant decrease in property values was the City of London where house prices dropped by 7.94%; could the 37.36% increase in anti-social behaviour be the root cause? Since Brexit, we’ve seen a dip in some Prime Central London property prices, so there are clearly multiple factors at work here.

How dangerous
is your borough?

Find out how dangerous your borough is with Goodmove.co.uk’s full table, which charts the areas with the highest rates of crime growth by type of crime:

Borough Crime % Difference in Crime YoY Number of reported incidents House Price % Difference Bromley Violence and sexual offences 13.77% 6413 2.03% Kingston Upon Thames Vehicle crime 48.09% 1241 -0.48% City of Westminster Public order 20.00% 2946 -1.38% Bromley Possession of weapons 120.27% 163 2.03% Newham Shoplifting 35.22% 2288 3.28% Camden Theft from the person 131.01% 5893 -4.04% Camden Robbery 84.62% 1549 -4.04% Croydon Drug offences 36.00% 1496 2.42% Wandsworth Criminal damage and arson 8.10% 1921 -0.93% Croydon Bicycle theft 45.92% 340 2.42% City of London Anti-social behaviour 64.51% 1497 -7.94% Redbridge Burglary 37.36% 2673 5.87%

The top 5
crime hotspots Borough Number of Crimes % increase in total crimes % change in property value City of Westminster 68,888 6.80% -1.38% Tower Hamlets 44,548 0.53% 2.45% Camden 44,546 16.39% -4.04% Lambeth 44,117 -1.73% 3.35% Newham 41,787 7.20% 3.28%

While any increase in crime is alarming, it would appear that the housing market remains resilient, as three of the top five ‘crime hotspots’ have actually shown an increase in property prices.

But will this remain the case if Londoners, concerned for their families, decided to sell up and move to a safer borough? Only time will tell…

To compare London to the rest of the UK, see goodmove.co.uk