London's top 10 most dangerous boroughs

THIS ARTICLE IS OLD. A MORE RECENT REPORT ON CRIME CAN BE FOUND HERE: Top 10 top London boroughs for crime

We recently conducted a study on crime statistics all over the nation using our very own data sources and particularly concentrated on London and its 33 boroughs. We did this to get an indication of the best and worst crime areas. In this report we explorer the worst London boroughs for crime.

It was difficult deciding how to rank crime from borough to borough due to multiple factors such as borough size and number of residents. We chose to rank crime by Crimes reported per borough area (Cases/km²) in a year.

1. London's most dangerous area: Westminster

This borough has the highest crime rate not only in London but in the entire nation with 1,580 crimes reported per km² in a year. Having said that, this borough is a major tourist and commuter area for London and so there will be many more people present in the borough than most. So in that case, more people per km² makes it inevitable that it will have the highest crime per km² too. Stay on guard when visiting and don't make yourself one of those people! Some areas in Westminster with particularly high crime are: St James's, Marlybone High Street, Bryanston and Dorset Square and Hyde Park.

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2. Islington

Not far behind Westminster is the slightly north of Central, borough of Islington with 1,490 crimes reported each year per kilometre squared of land. Not known for tourism this is unfortunately a borough that struggles with crime. Some of its most notable crime hot spots are Bunhill, Finsbury Park, Caledonian, Barnsbury and Highbury West.

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3. Hackney

This popular borough of (ever so slightly) East London is unfortunately stricken with one of the higher crime rates at 1,180/km². It has become very trendy in recent years with a surge in new media firms setting up office in Shoreditch and farmers markets and independent cafes enriching areas like Dalston and Hoxton. However, this recent trend hasn't totally shaken Hackney's unfortunate past, which perhaps lends appeal to its current trendy residents. Areas to look out for crime in are: Haggerston, Dalston, Chatham, Queesbridge, Hoxton and Hackney Central.

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4. Lambeth

Containing Brixton, Lambeth has gained a reputation for crime over a number of decades and still rates quite high in this table of high crime in London with 1,110 crimes reported for every km² of Lambeth in a year. Similar to Hackney though, Lambeth has become very popular with young trendy Londoners recently. Areas like Brixton and Clapham are very popular areas pushing housing prices high enough to spill into neighbouring Lambeth areas too. Higher risk areas are: Coldharbour, Clapham Town, Oval, Bishop's and St Leonard's.

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5. Camden

Camden is a big tourist and nightlife area perhaps explaining its high placement as a top London crime area with 1,110 crimes reported per squared km in a year. It's highest crime areas to watch out for are: Holbron and Covent Garden, Camden Town and Primrose Hill, Bloomsbury, Regent's Park and King's Cross.

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6. Hammersmith and Fulham

Based off into West London, Hammersmith and Fulham is very popular with the younger residents of London. It is generally quite pricey as you move off into this borough, however this does not mean it will be free from crime as the report highlights it having just over 1000 crimes a year reported for every km² of land. Areas to look our for are: Shepherd's Bush Green and Hammersmith Broadway.

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7. Kensington and Chelsea

Giving further testament to the fact that crime is not proportional to cost of property, Kensington and Chelsea ranks as the 7th highest crime Borough of London out of the 33 boroughs with 1,010 crimes reported per km² per year. Areas to watch out for are: Brompton and Earl's Court.

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8. Southwark

Just dipping below 4 digits with 980 crimes each year per km² of land Southwark is at number 8 in the list of London's top crime boroughs. Southwark is a not particularly classy area of South London that can expect an uplift as some of the young and trendy potential Londoners are becoming priced out of expensive neighbouring Lambeth. Crime hot spots to look out for are: Cathedrals, The Lane, Chaucer, Grange, East Walworth and Camberwell Green. Something that should probably be noted is that Peckham Rye and Nunhead are no longer particularly high in crime in Southwark.

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9. Tower Hamlets

To the east of City of London, Tower Hamlets contains a lot of inner East London (The "East End") and rates quite high for crime with 940 crimes reported per km² a year. High areas of crime in Tower Hamlets are Spitalfields and Banglatown, Weavers, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green North and South and Millwall.

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10. Newham

Further east than Tower Hamlets and containing most of the Olympic Park and the Olympic Stadium, Newham has the 10th highest rate of crime of 33 London boroughs at 800 crimes reported per squared kilometre in a year. Most notable crime hot spots are Stratford and New Town, Beckton and East Ham Central.

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How to find where you should live

The best way to find your ideal neighbourhood is to use our unique neighbourhood discovery tool. You simply pop in what you are looking for, e.g. low crime or good schools and some info about you such as age group and marital status and we will find the ideal area to suit you. The tool is free and doesn't even require registration or emails so find where to live now!

Most dangerous areas in London

So there we have the top 10 London boroughs ranked by crimes reported per squared metre of area in a year in each London Borough. Please remember that although some of these rates can seem high, particularly Westminster, remember that very few of the crimes are violent and many crimes such as pickpocketing can easily be prevented if you keep your wits about you and stay vigilant as you should do in any major city.

What do you think?

Maybe you've been to one of these areas and run into trouble yourself? Maybe you think they are perfectly safe and have never feel threated? Do you know of somewhere else you consider more dangerous? We'd love to hear your thoughts so please tell us them in the comment box below.

Which area is right for you? Find your perfect neighbourhood
What about the safest areas? Have a read of London's top 10 safest boroughs
Wondering how we gather our data? Have a read of Where do we get our data from?