Crap Towns / Essex / Loughton
Loughton
41/100Crap Score
579th crappest of 984 towns, and 15th in Essex. 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
Big houses. Bigger fly-tips.
Loughton is TOWIE country with Epping Forest on the doorstep. The fly-tippers love the forest too.
Loughton is the posh bit of Essex, with Epping Forest on the doorstep and TOWIE filming round the corner. The houses cost a fortune and the Central line still breaks down.
The fly-tippers love the forest, at more than twice the typical council's rate. A Golden Triangle with mattresses in the lay-bys. Classy. For a place next to a forest the air's rough too, and Barclays, Halifax, Lloyds and NatWest have all shut a branch since 2022. Car crime's high as well, so somebody's had the motor while you were out looking for a bank.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Loughton's 92 for air pollution means it's crapper than 92% of towns.
- Air pollution92/10012.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping87/10023.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Epping Forest council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions57/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband52/1006.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 11.9% across the Epping Forest council area
- Food hygiene46/1002.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 174 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour32/1008.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson25/1005.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills22/10049.5 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain10/100113 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires4/1001.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Harlow | 48 |
| 12 | Epping | 47 |
| 13 | Grays | 46 |
| 14 | Chigwell | 43 |
| 15 | Loughton | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.16 | South Ockendon | 37 |
| 17 | Buckhurst Hill | 37 |
| 18 | Thundersley and South Benfleet | 32 |
| 19 | Billericay | 29 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Loughton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 76.9 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
- 3 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 74% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 11 pubs, 15 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 1 vape shop, 6 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 7.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 13) Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 12.0 per 100,000 people, 3.5x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.53am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.8% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 33.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.1x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,617 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 6% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Epping Forest council
- £2,277 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £115 less than the English average
- 10% of Essex County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 38% lower than England's 16%
- 5 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Loughton 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.