What you need to know about Newham
One of the most populous boroughs of London, Newham is located on the borders of inner and outer East London, covering the districts of East Ham and West Ham. The name ‘Ham’ comes from an ancient settlement that once was located in the region within the boundaries formed by the rivers Thames, Roding and Lea, and means ‘a dry area of land between rivers or marshland’.
Newham was one of the six host boroughs for the 2012 Olympics, and it is increasingly attracting the attention of young professionals looking for a great place to live with excellent transport links to other parts of the city. Stratford is the home of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which provides a wide variety of sporting facilities to the public. Also located in the Olympic Park, you will find the ‘Here East’, an innovation and technology campus that attracts many innovators, disruptors and visionaries. This tech hub is surrounded with some of the world’s most inspiring artists and accommodates campuses for three universities and a co-working location for start-up businesses.
The borough has also received substantial inward investment in retail and business, with developments such as the Westfield Stratford City Shopping Centre, one of the largest urban shopping centres in Europe, and the ExCel London, hosting high profile events, conferences and exhibitions.
In this part of the city, you can explore a variety of lovely parks and open spaces, such as Abbey Gardens and Brampton Park, which has a multi-use games area and a paddling pool. The historic street market Queen’s market is another must-see. This famous and diverse market is located just next to Upton Park Underground on Green Street, and serves African, African-Caribbean and South Asian fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, seafood and meat. Newham also offers a good selection of restaurants, bars and nightclubs.
The borough is very well connected to the city, with the Jubilee, Hammersmith & City and District Underground lines, National Rail, DLR and London Overground services operating in the region along with plenty of bus routes. The Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) was extended to the North Circular and South Circular roads in 2021, and covers the majority of the borough which has good air quality. The crime rate in this region is slightly higher than the average in London.
There are approximately 164 primary schools and 55 secondary schools in the borough, of which 55 are rated as outstanding by Ofsted. Newham University Hospital, St Bartholomew’s Hospital and The Royal London Hospital are some of the hospitals that serve residents of this region.
New buyers are usually looking for houses for sale in Upton, East Ham and Plaistow, whilst, many people search for flats to rent in Stratford, Canning Town and Beckton. There are 352,005 residents in Newham with 3.08 people per dwelling, according to the Housing in London 2019 report. The average private rent in this area is £1400, according to the 2018/2019 Private Rental Market summary statistics, and the average house price is £364,996, according to the 2019 House Price Index from the Office of National Statistics (ONS). If you would like to rent a house in this borough, it is estimated that you will need a total annual income of £42,000, according to the rent affordability formula.
The growth in housing stock from 2008 to 2018 was 14.6%, with 30,110 affordable homes. Houses are 47% of total stock, according to the 2018 Valuation Office Agency report. Houses in this area are 16.97% owned outright, 21.73% owned with a mortgage or loan, 36.01% private rent and 25.29% social housing.