As rents and property prices continue to soar in London, long-time residents of the capital’s eastern neighbourhoods are finding it increasingly difficult to remain in the communities they have called home for decades. This troubling trend is highlighted in new research that examines the rapid transformation of 53 gentrified areas across the city.
The study, commissioned by Trust for London and conducted by University College London, tracked 25 years of data and revealed that wealthier newcomers are steadily displacing lower-income, long-term residents in these neighbourhoods. Between 2012 and 2020, these areas saw sharp income rises alongside significant demographic shifts, including fewer families with children and a decline in the number of black residents.
“These 53 neighbourhoods all had lower than average incomes in 2012 and saw big increases by 2020,” the research notes. “This new analysis illustrates the pace of change and population churn that gentrification is causing.”
Jordan Rivera, an occupational therapist at Homerton Hospital, has experienced this transformation firsthand. After nearly two decades of living and working in Hackney, she fears she may no longer be able to afford to stay in the area she has long called home.
“I really want to stay in this area because I’ve been living here a long time now. I want to be near my children’s school, I want to be near my workplace, but my flat’s too small now,” Rivera told BBC Politics London. “It’s going to be difficult, I think, to find a bigger flat that we can afford in this area.”
The rapid gentrification of Hackney Wick is particularly evident, according to H Hussein, who has owned Mappy Cafe in the neighbourhood for 35 years. “Oh, this has changed a lot, obviously,” he said, gesturing to the new luxury flats that have replaced a former bagel factory.
While regeneration has made some neighbourhoods appear smarter and safer, the research suggests that gentrified areas are experiencing housing pressures more intensely than the rest of London, leaving many long-term residents with little choice but to move away from the communities they know.
Manny Hothi, chief executive of Trust for London, expressed particular concern over the demographic changes highlighted by the study. “So in these areas we’re seeing a disproportionate drop in black households. We’re also seeing really worryingly a drop in children in these neighbourhoods and that’s something that’s different,” he said.
“So if you look back into past the gentrification, you would have still seen children, but now we’re seeing less and less children, schools closing, and that is really worrying.”
As the pace of gentrification accelerates, the future of these long-established communities hangs in the balance, leaving families like Jordan Rivera’s to confront the difficult choice of whether to stay or go.