Crap Towns / Greater London / Barnet
Barnet
83/100Crap Score
169th crappest of 984 towns, and 21st in Greater London. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
See the raceThe public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.
Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
Semis all the way to Hertfordshire.
Mile after mile of pebbledash, a tired high street up at Chipping Barnet and endless regeneration down at Brent Cross.
Barnet's so big the Northern line has to fork to get round it. Up at the top, Chipping Barnet's high street looks tired. Down at the bottom, Brent Cross has been getting regenerated since anyone can remember. In between it's semis, and the vandals are well behaved, fair play.
The fly-tippers aren't. The council logs twice the typical council's fly-tipping, and 3,277 homes across the borough have stood empty for more than six months. 9 public pools have shut for good since 2010, the banks keep announcing closures, and nearly three times the typical town's share of kitchens have a low hygiene rating. The air's nearly twice as filthy as the typical town's, and this is the leafy bit of London.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Barnet's 97 for air pollution means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Air pollution97/10015.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene96/1006.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,991 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband91/10019.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 19.8% across the Barnet council area
- Fly-tipping85/10021.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Barnet council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour79/10021.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions73/1003.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires30/100
- Rain26/100119 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson18/1004.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills13/10016.3 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | Lewisham | 87 |
| 18 | Greenwich | 85 |
| 19 | Islington | 84 |
| 20 | Wandsworth | 84 |
| 21 | Barnet | 83 |
| 22 | Waltham Forest | 82 |
| 23 | Kensington and Chelsea | 79 |
| 24 | Redbridge | 77 |
| 25 | Barking and Dagenham | 77 |
Barnet by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 72.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 772 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 19.8 per 10,000 people, 5.8x the typical town's 3.4
- 23 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
- 2 of 3 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 56 pubs, 116 hairdressers, 31 charity shops, 31 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 26 banks, 4 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 9.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (21 of 220) Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 4.0%
- 16 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 4.1 per 100,000 people, 21% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 48 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 21 public swimming pools open; 9 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 29% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 9 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.49am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 19.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 26% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,608 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Barnet council
Have a crap-off
Barnet against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.
- ?Fly-tippingper 1,000, council area?
- ?Anti-social behaviourper 1,000 people?
- ?Serious road crashesper 10,000 people?
- ?Sewage spillshours per 10,000 people?
- ?Food hygienerated poor?
- ?Criminal damageper 1,000 people?
- ?Dirty airµg/m³?
- ?No gigabitof premises can't get it?
- ?Deliberate firesper 10,000 people?
- ?Raindays a year?
Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.