Crap Towns / Greater London / Redbridge
Redbridge
77/100Crap Score
226th crappest of 984 towns, and 24th 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
Got something to say about Redbridge? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Named after a Tube station. Seriously.
The poshest thing in the borough is a Tube station done up to look like Moscow.
Redbridge couldn't think of a name so it nicked one off a Tube station. Ilford's the middle of it, and Ilford Lane and Ley Street see more dumped mattresses than bin lorries: the council logged 8,189 fly-tips in a year, twice the typical English council's rate. Wanstead and Woodford are leafy and keep their heads down.
The kitchens are the other problem, with 8.2% of food businesses scoring 0 to 2, nearly three and a half times the typical town. The council's side roads are falling apart, nearly half of them due a look, three times England's share. Hardly any pubs for its size, 2 libraries shut for good, and the Moscow-style ticket hall at Gants Hill is still the poshest thing in the borough.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Redbridge's 98 for air pollution means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Air pollution98/10016.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 9.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene97/1008.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,534 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping90/10023.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Redbridge council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour73/10019.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions67/1002.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires40/100
- Broadband38/1006.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 6.7% across the Redbridge council area
- Sewage spills23/10052.1 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson17/1004.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain9/100113 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Wandsworth | 84 |
| 21 | Barnet | 83 |
| 22 | Waltham Forest | 82 |
| 23 | Kensington and Chelsea | 79 |
| 24 | Redbridge | 77 |
| 25 | Barking and Dagenham | 77 |
| 26 | Kingston upon Thames | 73 |
| 27 | Havering | 72 |
| 28 | Richmond upon Thames | 68 |
Redbridge by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 77.3 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
- 26 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 76% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 11 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 29 pubs, 83 hairdressers, 22 charity shops, 27 bookmakers, 6 vape shops, 26 banks, 6 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 11.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (34 of 306) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 4.0%
- 7 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 2.3 per 100,000 people, 32% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 libraries shut for good since 2010: Uphall School Library (2018) and Clayhall Library (2022)
- 33 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 7 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.2 per 10,000 people, 71% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 10 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.29am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.9% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 28.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,588 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Redbridge council
Have a crap-off
Redbridge 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.