The 53 London neighbourhoods ‘gentrifying’ the fastest in 2025 – full list

Gentrification, often heralded by the opening of a shiny new Gail’s on the high street or a couple of plucky pilates studios, has been sweeping London for decades. It may bring fancier, more expensive coffee options to your area, but it has huge social impacts – and may put Londoners at risk of being priced out of their hometowns. 

A new report by charity Trust for London highlights the 53 neighbourhoods in the capital which have been the most ‘gentrified’ in the last 15 years, using average salary increase between 2012 and 2020 as its metric. 

Spitalfields comes in first place, seeing a 45 per cent rise in residents’ income, followed by Aldgate at 29 per cent more pay, and Bethnal Green South (27 per cent). They’re all in Tower Hamlets, which is the most ‘gentrified’ London borough with the largest number of neighbourhoods in the list (12). The boroughs of Southwark, Brent, Newham and Haringey also featured heavily. The average salary increase in the 53 neighbourhoods was 11 per cent, with residents in managerial positions rising. 

The study, published by Trust for London and consultants WPI Economics, focused on areas which were identified in 2012 as having the lowest 20 per cent of incomes in London. It defines gentrification as ‘the influx of more affluent residents in lower income areas, relative to the residents that were already there, and the displacement of the previous population’.

Trust for London’s findings highlight a seismic shift in the makeup of the identified areas when it comes to race, class, and age. For example, its data reveals a decrease of almost two percentage points in the proportion of Black residents on average in the 53 areas, despite the Black population in London as a whole remaining generally the same in the period analysed. This amounts to a loss of about 10,000 Black Londoners across the identified zones. 

While the white population in the areas decreased by a larger amount (over four per cent), this represented a smaller fall than in the rest of the city, which saw about six per cent of its white residents leave between 2012 and 2020. 

The social fabric of the highlighted neighbourhoods has also changed, according to the report. Each experienced an average decrease of around five per cent in the number of households socially renting their homes, which is dramatically more than the one per cent average fall across the rest of the capital. 

There are also fewer young people living in the ‘gentrified’ areas than before - there’s been a drop of four percentage points in the number of under 15 year olds as residents. This matches up with a general decrease in primary school applications in the last decade. Southwark alone has seen a 32 per cent dip in applications over the past decade. 

But why are these areas’ populations changing so rapidly? The blame, as usual, can be put squarely on the shoulders of rising property prices. 

Houses were, on average, 250 per cent more expensive in the 53 identified neighbourhoods between 2010 and 2023, compared to a 200 per cent rise across the rest of London. Historically financially precarious communities are increasingly unable to pay the price to live in areas that were once regarded as affordable. 

Manny Hothi, chief executive of Trust for London, said: ‘This research points to something that many Londoners have suspected for years—the city is becoming increasingly unaffordable for low-income families. We’re witnessing families and long-standing communities being priced out on a scale we haven’t seen before.

‘London's diverse blend of communities is what makes it one of the best cities in the world. But the current trend shows the city is at a tipping point, at risk of being a homogenous place where only people above a certain income bracket can afford to be.

‘If we want London to be a city where people from all backgrounds, of all ages, can live and thrive, urgent action is needed to address the affordability crisis.’

London’s 53 most ‘gentrified’ neighbourhoods 

1. Spitalfields
2. Aldgate
3. Bethnal Green South
4. Woodberry Down & Manor House
5. Bruce Grove North
6. Camberwell Green
7. Bethnal Green Central
8. Beckton
9. Bromley-by-Bow West
10. Somers Town
11. Beckton North
12. Bromley-by-Bow East
13. Finsbury Park West
14. Manor Park North
15. Grahame Park
16. Stonebridge
17. Loughborough Road
18. Plaistow Park
19. Woolwich South
20. Peckham North
21. Mile End West
22. Peckham North West
23. Limehouse North & Stepney East
24. Tottenham Green East
25. Mile End East & Burdett Estate
26. Burgess Park
27. University Hospital & Queen's Road
28. Custom House
29. Euston
30. Poplar Leaside
31. Turkey Street
32. Tottenham Green West
33. Harringay Warehouse District & Vartry
34. Poplar West
35. Roundwood Park
36. Peckham Park Road
37. Harlesden
38. Plumstead High Street
39. Tottenham Lea Valley
40. Alperton East
41. Welsh Harp
42. Kilburn Park
43. Anerley North & Penge West
44. Roehampton North West
45. Woolwich West
46. Golborne & Swinbrook
47. Burnt Oak & Watling Park
48. St Mary Cray North
49. Hayes End
50. Whitechapel
51. South Bermondsey East
52. Leytonstone South West
53. Dagnam Park & Noak Hill

You can read Trust for London’s full study here.

Did you see that the Times just named seven London areas among the UK’s best places to live? Here’s how much it costs to live in each of them.

Plus: eight of the UK’s most ‘unspoiled’ villages are near London.

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