Crap Towns / Greater London / Waltham Forest
Waltham Forest
82/100Crap Score
179th crappest of 984 towns, and 22nd 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 Waltham Forest? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Awesomestow. Says the estate agent.
The Village is all sourdough and candles now. The rest of the Stow is the market and the bookies.
Walthamstow's got a market that goes on for ever and a Village that's all cafés and shops selling nothing but candles. Leytonstone's next door and calls itself Hellstone when nobody's listening. Leyton Orient keep going regardless. Ask anyone what the best thing about the borough is and they'll say the Victoria line, because it gets you out.
The kitchens are the real horror. 208 food businesses in the borough have a hygiene rating of 0 to 2, more than five times the typical town's share. Some of it's sourdough. Some of it you'd rather not ask about.
The council logged 10,246 fly-tipping incidents in a year, over three times the typical council's rate, and the air carries more than twice the typical town's nitrogen dioxide. 27 serious pollution incidents have been logged round here since 2016, the latest putting diesel in the water. Lovely Wetlands, though.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Waltham Forest's 99 for food hygiene means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Food hygiene99/10013.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,572 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution98/10018.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 9.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping95/10034.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Waltham Forest council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour89/10026.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions58/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires57/100
- Broadband33/1005.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.9% across the Waltham Forest council area
- Criminal damage and arson32/1005.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills15/10020.6 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain7/100112 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 26 | Kingston upon Thames | 73 |
Waltham Forest by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 85.0 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 12% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 4 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.1 per 10,000 people, 97% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 27 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 62 pubs, 216 hairdressers, 28 charity shops, 42 bookmakers, 8 vape shops, 15 banks, 4 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 11.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (27 of 245) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 4.0%
- 6 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 2.2 per 100,000 people, 35% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 60 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 38% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 12 public swimming pools open; 4 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 43% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 14 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.09am 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%
- 14.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 9% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,582 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Waltham Forest council
- £2,387 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £5 less than the English average
- 18% of Waltham Forest council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- 45 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Waltham Forest 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.