East London

Perhaps the capital’s biggest oxymoron, East London is a place where traditional meets contemporary and all walks of life collide. And there lies its draw, as many of its millions of occupants will attest to. Read on to discover developments that are the best places to live in East London. In addition, read reviews from residents who own or rent in East London.

4.39
Average Location Score

Excellent

55%

Very Good

31%

Average

11%

Disappointing

2%

Very Poor

1%

Best places to live in East London

HomeViews Top Rated Development ranking takes into account the Star Rating and HomeViews Transparency Rating of every development in the area

Market stall East London

East London regeneration

On the one hand, this portion of the capital has seen lots of renovation and innovation. In the past decade, East London has been heavily invested in – from Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and its neighbouring new-build residential developments, to Hackney’s cutting-edge arts and music scene. And the highly anticipated arrival of Crossrail will revolutionise the area further.

On the other hand, East London seeps history; characterised by its 19th-century docks, Victorian townhouses and tales of Jack the Ripper. Whitechapel walking tours that chart the stories of yesteryear and take in age-old pubs come highly recommended.

Skate park

Tower Hamlets’ creative hubs

The Tower Hamlets borough is home to sought-after neighbourhoods like Shoreditch, Hoxton and Bethnal Green. Where traditional boozers and pie and mash shops share space with exhibitions and galleries. These districts are a favourite for creative professionals; who frequent the artisan coffee shops by day and the live music venues by night. To the north of these so-called ‘hipster hotspots’ you’ll find Mile End. Which offers the same East End spirit with a side-order of canalside walks and a family-friendly park.

Tower Hamlets is arguably the best borough in the capital for shopping; there’s everything from vintage clothes stores to treasure-trove antique dens. As for markets, you’re spoilt for choice, thanks to big-hitters like Old Spitalfields, Brick Lane and the Columbia Road Flower Market.

Canary Wharf

London’s most famous skyline, Canary Wharf’s residential developments are quadrupling, and the area is no longer just a Monday to Friday destination. Here, five supersize malls and a myriad of Thames-facing restaurants and bars sit alongside the high-spec high rises. And transport links here are among the finest in East London. The Jubilee line and the DLR offer fast and reliable connections for commuters, plus Thames Clipper riverbus services are an option if you’d rather get to work along the water. Canary Wharf isn’t just a hive for city slickers these days, though. A handful of good schools and some surprising green swathes have captured the attention of families, as well.

View of East London

East London’s pockets of calm

Head out to the likes of Havering, Newham and Barking & Dagenham, and there’s sweeping parkland and wide, leafy streets lined with grandiose houses. It results in a less urban feel than most other East London postcodes, but these are no wallflowers – the club and cocktail scenes in places like Chingford and Plaistow rival the traditionally trendier playgrounds. In E17’s Walthamstow, residents are treated to a charming village centre and a sprinkling of gastropubs in the shadow of sprawling Epping Forest.

Diverse, vibrant and with its finger well and truly on the pulse, the East End is the Selfridges of London’s geography, in that it truly offers something for everyone. Art lover? Foodie? Fitness fanatic? Come right in, because you’ll be welcomed with open arms…

You can find out more about living in the East London by reading reviews from residents. Click on the developments below to find out more about residents’ experiences and discover the best places to live and rent in East London. Moreover, If there’s a East London property that you can’t see on HomeViews,  you can add a new listing and leave your review here

Reviews in East London

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Room for improvement but for sure the direction everyone should aim for in London.

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Mar 2024

Noise is extremely disturbing and damaging. Shops are either cheaper and not necessarily the best quality or supermarkets with much higher prices than other chains that are more accessible, in a way forcing us to get delivery, as it’s cheaper than doing groceries locally. It feels like slowly everyone is being pushed towards making more money or moving somewhere else (this is not this area only but London itself, as a whole).

Please review your development:

Most of the things are good except for:

Not allowing glass in the recycling bin is a total childish attitude that I hope gets changed at some point, as you could speak with the council to modify this or even have an individual bin for this downstairs: putting this on the actual tenant isn’t fair/ethical.

Some repairs take way too long or nobody really takes action on those (like water leaks that even if it’s slowly or in the rainy season, will only grow and contiue damaging the properties)… Either way, what MUST be improved is communication, as on many cases the tenants are left in the dark and that’s by far the worst thing to do (even an email saying that something won’t be addressed or that it will take long is better than nothing).

Please be aware, Mark and the team (especially Jason) are really good in what they do. Without people like them and some of the engineers, the building would be in a really bad situation.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

There’s almost no phone signal in the whole 10th floor at least… This and the noise from outside are things that could have made me rethink what I was doing when moving in… Still it was the best place in which I lived in 10 years.

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

In general everything addressed and in reasonable timings, besides a few repairs that so far aren’t fixed or not even checked in depth after a year.

In general, good performance.

4
Facilities
4
Design
4
Location
5
Value
4
Management
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Very good design

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Mar 2024

Very quiet and safe, the community is nice, not too crowded, theres a market and parking available along with other facilities

Please review your development:

Very good design the kitchen and living room are quite large and spacious. There’s a large balcony with a view on the street, The rooms are also quite large and well positioned. The bathroom is great and has a bathtub. The house also has a laundry room and a wardrobe.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

The tube isnt that well connected and quite far to get to

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

No issues have been experiences so far, but on general enquiries the staff has been very friendly

5
Facilities
5
Design
5
Location
5
Value
5
Management
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Great aesthetic and always looks cozy and warm and inviting

Review Date Mar 2024

Very comfortable living space and great location, next to a lot of entertaining places in Canary Wharf.

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Great aesthetic and always looks cozy and warm and inviting. The building management and property management have always been great and provided good service for every request and continue to build a good community around them. Would recommend them to any friends looking for new flats.

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

Very friendly receptionist and easy to work with the management team always

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

Dean Joao has been so great and responsive to every maintenance requests that I’ve put through and he’s always solved it and is very friendly.

5
Facilities
5
Design
5
Location
5
Value
5
Management
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Manager Response

Hi Salma, just wanted to reach out and say a huge thank you for taking the time to do this review. It really goes a long way especially for the team who are working hard to contribute to your stay with us. I have passed on the praise you have left for Dean, he is a huge part of the team here at Sailmakers.

Kind Regards

good price, good friendly people working

Verified Resident
Verified Resident
Review Date Mar 2024

parking is a problem you hsve to pay 300£ every month to park inside yhe garage of the building, no bin collection you have to go floor -1 but its easy to do it no problems. Street is safe nothing to worry about maybe some people would not like the fact that dlr sound comes in if you open a window but doesnt bother me

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in general i am happy to live in this building however there is a construction next to it looks like it will start next year which might effect my choice of continue living in this building next year. I also noticed minor damages in the flat that i didnt know before i took pics of it in case they ask money for it end of my tenancy but people work here are really friendly so nothing to worry about

Please share one thing (or more) which you wish you had known before you moved in:

sofa is so uncomfortable and heating( radiators) makes noise

How has the building management responded to any problems or issues you have raised:

i had problems with toilet maintenance and everytime they helped me a lot. last time i had a shower problem and Dean Joao and his colleague helped a lot and solve the problem. 10/10

4
Facilities
5
Design
3
Location
5
Value
5
Management
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Manager Response

Hi Omer,

Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this review – it really goes a long way to contribute how we can shape our customer delivery here at Sailmakers. I would love the chance to introduce myself as the Community Manager here, so I will be in touch regarding that.

Thank you for the feedback in regards to Dean, he is a huge part of the team here at Sailmakers and I have passed this onto him.