Crap Towns / Greater London / Bromley
Bromley
55/100Crap Score
445th crappest of 984 towns, and 33rd 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
Bromley, Kent. It's not, mind.
Mostly golf courses, and people who'd rather their post said Kent.
Bromley's been in London since 1965 and still hasn't come to terms with it. There are dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park that look like they were made by someone who'd only heard about dinosaurs, and an airfield out at Biggin Hill. The town centre's a high street with a busker and an amp. Penge is also Bromley. They don't mention Penge.
The council's own roads are a state: 36% of the side roads should have been looked at for repairs, against 16% across England. The ombudsman upheld 49 complaints against it in a year, and in 2% of those it had put things right before anybody made it. 26 places in the borough are on the Heritage at Risk list. For a borough that still writes Kent on its envelopes, it's letting itself go.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bromley's 93 for air pollution means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Air pollution93/10013.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions76/1003.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping71/10015.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bromley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour62/10016.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires46/100
- Broadband42/1007.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 7.0% across the Bromley council area
- Criminal damage and arson40/1006.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain31/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene27/1001.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,531 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills11/1008.9 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Barking and Dagenham | 77 |
| 26 | Kingston upon Thames | 73 |
| 27 | Havering | 72 |
| 28 | Richmond upon Thames | 68 |
| 29 | Harrow | 67 |
| 30 | Bexley | 66 |
| 31 | Merton | 60 |
| 32 | Sutton | 58 |
| 33 | Bromley | 55 |
Bromley by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 72.4 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
- 9,592 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 291 per 10,000 people, 264.5x the typical town's 1.1
- 16 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 103 pubs, 169 hairdressers, 56 charity shops, 24 bookmakers, 13 vape shops, 24 banks, 9 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (5 of 241) Better: 48% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 14 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 4.2 per 100,000 people, 24% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 94 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.8 per 10,000 people, 1.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 24 public swimming pools open; 3 closed for good since 2010 About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
- 26 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.52am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 30.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,575 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Bromley council
Have a crap-off
Bromley 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.