Croydon named one of London’s unfriendliest boroughs to live

The south London borough ranked 19th out of London’s 32 boroughs in a new ranking by the National Conversation looking at how connected people feel to their local communities.

And one of the biggest findings was that just 47.5 per cent of Croydon residents said they were proud to live in their local area.

That means more than half did not say they were proud to live there.

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Across England, the average was much higher, with 59.7 per cent of people saying they were proud of their local area.

Croydon was ranked 196th out of 296 local authorities in England overall.

The figures come from the Government’s Community Life Survey 2024/25, with eight different measures used to assess how connected people feel to their communities.

These include local pride, whether people feel they belong to their neighbourhood, trust in neighbours, how often people chat to neighbours, loneliness, volunteering, and taking part in civic life.

Croydon’s low level of local pride was one of its biggest weaknesses.

The borough scored just 11 out of 100 for its position among England’s local authorities on this measure.

Trust between neighbours was also low, with just 32.1 per cent of Croydon residents saying many of their neighbours could be trusted.

That compares with 40.3 per cent across England, giving Croydon a score of 19 out of 100.

And when it comes to actually speaking to those neighbours, 65 per cent of Croydon residents said they chatted to neighbours at least once a month.

That was below the England average of 68.8 per cent.

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The borough also fell below the national average when residents were asked whether they felt they belonged to their neighbourhood.

Some 59 per cent said they felt they belonged, compared with 62.1 per cent across England.

That gave Croydon a score of 22 out of 100. But the research was not all bad news for Croydon.

81.3 per cent said people from different backgrounds got on well in their area, which was slightly above the England average of 80.6 per cent.

Croydon also scored highly for civic participation, in which 36.3 per cent of residents said they had taken part in civic life during the previous year, compared with 33.6 per cent across England.

And despite its reputation for being unfriendly, Croydon did not have particularly high levels of loneliness.

Just 5.7 per cent of residents said they felt lonely often or always, compared with the 6.6 per cent average in England.

Croydon therefore scored 63 out of 100 for loneliness, with lower levels of loneliness receiving a higher score.

Overall, Croydon received a Connection Barometer score of 38 out of 100.

The score is calculated by taking the average of all eight measures, with each one given equal weighting.

The barometer warns that it is a rough guide rather than a definitive measure of how connected a place is.

Instead, the ranking uses different measures which are intended to show how connected people are to their communities.

The figures also come against a backdrop of deprivation in Croydon.

The borough is more deprived than 64 per cent of England’s local authorities, according to the Indices of Deprivation 2025.

So, is Croydon really one of London’s unfriendliest places to live?

Are you proud to live in Croydon, and would you describe people in your area as friendly?

Share your thoughts in the comments below.