The two London boroughs where the population is rising

People are ditching living in London in favour of a more affordable lifestyle, reduced housing costs, less crime and more green space.

According to the latest statistics, just two of London's boroughs have growing populations - Bexley and Havering.

Newham, the capital's Olympic borough in the east, saw the highest net loss of residents, with 12,894 in the past year, according to the figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Its total population sits at about 360,000.

More than 860,000 people left London to live somewhere else in the UK in 2023, about 10% of its population, and means 130,000 more people left the capital overall than the 730,000 who also moved in.

According to the statistics, Havering had a net migration of 669 and Bexley had 464. Lambeth and Wandsworth saw the most movement. In Lambeth, 41,389 people chose to live elsewhere but 35,649 people moved in.

Wandsworth had similar statistics, just pipping the post to have the highest number of people in London moving in, with 38,964.

Mother-of-one Gopika and her partner chose to stay in the capital, but opted for a cheaper peripheral borough - moving to Hornchurch, Havering, one of the two London boroughs where the population is bucking the trend and just about ticking upwards.

After 10 years in Islington, during the pandemic they realised they valued more outdoor space, which was not affordable in inner London.

"We chose Hornchurch because it's still well connected and suburban," she said.

"Even compared to Walthamstow, we have 30% more space for the same money. Everything we saw in zones 1 to 3 within budget wasn't much more than a flat and we wanted more space for children.

"It has been a bit of change in lifestyle, I had to learn to drive, and childcare is very expensive and competitive, we had to sign up when I was just a few weeks pregnant."

She added: "I was frustrated and I am quite sad about not living in central London, the variety of different places that you have there and the culture is a bit more open minded, I have found.

"We have also noticed a huge strain on hospital services living here, comparatively, with things like A&E waits and GPs."

Meanwhile, since the 2012 Olympics, over in Newham there has been a property boom with derelict brownfield sites replaced with shiny state-of-the-art apartments, with fresh transport links attracting City workers.

According to Hamptons, the East End has also become the most attractive area to buy for first-time buyers - Newham had 68% of their sales listed as first-time buyers, Havering had 65% and Barking and Dagenham had 61%.

Young buyers appear undeterred by Newham's continually high crime rate. It was the second-most dangerous borough in London in 2023 with 137 crimes per 1,000 people.

But for Celia Soares and her family, this was a reason to up sticks, moving away to Barnet during the lockdown as she felt the area "had a taken turn for the worst" for safety.

She said: "We had incidents almost every night. Several drug users broke into our building. Police did nothing. So we've decided to move somewhere safer."

Retired teacher Caron Harrison lived in Forest Gate for 36 years, before choosing to leave because of costs.

She explained: "I moved to Norfolk because I realised that I would not be able to afford my London rent once I was drawing my pension.

"It was a really difficult decision as all my friends lived locally and I do miss them. I try to get back once a month to see them."

Helen lived with her family of three in an ex-council flat in Maryland, Stratford, and moved away three years ago, leaving for the same reasons.

She said: "We were leaseholders, and we needed somewhere bigger to live, children need their own bedroom, but we just can't afford it and I don't qualify for social help.

"A four-bedroom flat, which is probably worth £1m. I see others on social housing moved within the borough according to their needs, but for a working family this is not possible, we worked and bought a flat as a right thing to do.

"It hurts to see we get punished for this - where is the fairness in this system?

"We have moved to the Midlands and I feel depressed and very unhappy there."

City Hall has been approached for comment.

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