What you need to know about Southwark
Considered the oldest part of south London, with its earliest developed urban area dating from the Roman period, Southwark stretches from the Thames down to Crystal Palace and from Elephant and Castle across to Rotherhithe. The region is full of attractions and tourist landmarks, such as Tower Bridge, the Tate Modern gallery and Shakespeare’s Globe theatre.
Borough Market is a historic market with high quality food, sustainable produce and social connection. It’s a popular place for artisan cuisine and produce and is located on Southwark Street and Borough High Street, just at the southern end of London Bridge. The market is definitely worth exploring whenever you are in this area.
The region is well-served with better coverage in terms of underground and overground stations in comparison with other boroughs in the south, and you can also rely on many bus routes to go around. The air quality in Southwark is good, with low air pollution. The borough is in the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ). The crime rate in this location is somewhat higher than the average in London.
Elephant and Castle, Waterloo and Bermondsey are the most desirable places to live in for tenants, while new buyers are always trying to secure homes in idyllic locations in Herne Hill, East Dulwich and Dulwich Village. With a population of 317,256 and 2.39 people per dwelling, the region has seen a growth in housing stock by 12.5% from 2008 to 2018, with 55,600 affordable homes, according to the Housing in London 2019 report. Houses are 20% of the total stock, the average private rent is £1,525 and the average house price is £476,597 in Southwark, according to the same report. 13.02% of the properties are owned outright, 20.48% are owned with a mortgage or loan, 25.73% of the houses are private rent and 40.77 are social housing. If you would like to rent a house in Southwark, it is estimated that you will need a total annual income of £45,750, according to the rent affordability formula.
There are approximately 247 primary schools and 110 secondary schools in Southwark, with 86 of them rated as outstanding by Ofsted. Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, London Bridge Hospital and King’s College Hospital are some of the main local hospitals in and around Southwark.
