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Neighbourhood profile
St Mary's & St James
Bexley, London
PocketsBexley Village (Joydens Wood · St Mary's Recreation Ground · Bexley Woods · River Shuttle)Foots Cray Meadows (Joydens Wood · River Cray)Albany Park
St Mary's & St James covers old Bexley village and the approaches to Joydens Wood on the Kent border. The ward's heritage stock is deeper than the name suggests: thirty-two listed buildings including three Grade II* entries — the Parish Church of All Saints, a Bath House behind 112, and the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin. Green space runs to nearly 160 hectares with Joydens Wood as the anchor at forty-six hectares, and nature, pollution and safety all score well. Food and non-food venues both look healthy for an outer-south-east ward. Affordability is moderate. The flipside is connectivity: public-transport access is only moderate, there is no Tube and the Bexleyheath-line service sets the pace into town. Culture and heritage scores are both on the low side despite the listed stock, reflecting the ward's distance from London's cultural spine.
- Strongest76Nature Access
Strong access to green space and waterways
- Also strong68Air & Quiet
Clean air and low ambient noise by London standards
- Watch out0Area development
Little recent major-development activity
At a glance
- Limited public-transport access
- 32 listed buildings
- 5.2% covered by a conservation area
- 2 schools rated Outstanding by Ofsted within 1 km
- Largest green space: Joydens Wood (46 hectares)
- 168 open venues (90 food and drink, 78 other)
7 pockets across 3 named areas · coloured by overall score.See on full map ↗
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St Mary's & St James, layer by layer
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Scores as of 23 Aug 2026 · prices to 2026 · crime to Jun 2026 · air 2022 · sources
Property prices & growth
64Better than 87% of London
How scores work - Purchase affordability75
- Rent affordability60
- Price momentum (5yr)51
- Activity (turnover)80
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Prices, rent & trends
£ per square foot to buy, an estimated 2-bed rent, and decades of sale-price history for this ward.
For St Mary's & St James: 156 sales recorded (2025)32-yr price trend £—
Safety
67Better than 83% of London
- Personal safety70
- Property crime66
- Anti-social behaviour64
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Safety deep-dive
Every recorded crime type — burglary, robbery, vehicle crime and more — grouped into personal, property and anti-social behaviour, with the monthly trend for this ward.
For St Mary's & St James: personal, property & anti-social breakdown24-mo trend to Jun 2026counts —
Connectivity
27Better than 8% of London
Median public-transport access is basic (TfL PTAL 2.0 of 8 across this ward).
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Connectivity deep-dive
Real TfL journey times to London's major hubs, plus this ward's transport access rank across London.
For St Mary's & St James: — min by TfL to 8 major hubsaccess rank —
Air & Quiet
68Better than 81% of London
- Air quality92
- Quietness33
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Air & noise deep-dive
NO₂, PM2.5 and road/rail noise for this ward, each against WHO / UK limits.
Cultural Signal
18Better than 33% of London
- Nightlife0
- Dining7
- Arts & culture0
- Retail & shops0
- Sports & recreation7
- Independent scene29
- Vitality (openings, diversity)63
168 open venues nearby — 90 food & drink, 78 other.
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Culture deep-dive
What's open nearby — the venue mix, share of independents, and recent openings.
For St Mary's & St James: the mix behind 168 open venues—% independent
Education
43Better than 8% of London
- Primary schools38
- Secondary schools48
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School inspection history
Every school in this ward with its current Ofsted rating and multi-year trend.
For St Mary's & St James: 3 schools, each with its inspection record
Heritage
18Better than 36% of London
32 listed buildings · 5% under a conservation area
- Parish Church of All SaintsGrade II*
- Bath House to Rear of Number 112Grade II*
- Parish Church of St Mary the VirginGrade II*
From Historic England's National Heritage List for England.
Nature Access
76Better than 93% of London
- Green spaces99
- Waterways35
Largest green space: Joydens Wood (46 ha). ~159 ha of green space in total.
Area development
0Shared lowest band with 24% of London
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Planning pipeline
Named recent approvals with homes and floorspace, the local homes pipeline, and the affordable share.
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- Prices — £ per square foot, an estimated rent, and the ward’s full price history
- Safety — crime by type with its monthly trend
- Getting around — real TfL journey times to the big hubs
- Schools, air & noise — every school’s inspection record, air & noise against WHO limits
- What's next — the venue mix, what’s been approved to build nearby, and cheaper areas that score like St Mary's & St James
For St Mary's & St James: 156 sales recorded (2025)32-yr price history £—24-mo crime trend to Jun 2026TfL times to 8 hubs — min3 schools' inspection records168 venues mapped
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What's changing in St Mary's & St James
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St Mary's & St James, quick answers
- Is St Mary's & St James safe?
- St Mary's & St James scores 67 for safety, based on street-level recorded crime (police.uk) — safer than most of London. The score weighs personal safety, property crime and anti-social behaviour separately rather than ranking on one raw total, so the mix of crime matters as well as the volume.
- Is St Mary's & St James a good place to live?
- St Mary's & St James scores 42 overall when all nine data layers are weighted equally. The London comparison beside the score shows how that number ranks against every ward. Its strongest suits are nature access (76) and air & quiet (68); its weakest is area development (0). Whether it suits you depends on what you weight — the same data re-ranked around your own priorities can read very differently.
- How well connected is St Mary's & St James?
- Limited public-transport access: Transport for London rates the typical spot in St Mary's & St James 2 on its 0–8 public-transport access scale, which puts the ward at 27 for connectivity relative to the rest of London.
- Is St Mary's & St James expensive to buy in?
- Relative to the rest of London, St Mary's & St James is among London's more affordable areas to buy: its purchase-affordability score is 15/20, where higher means cheaper per square foot (HM Land Registry sold prices matched to floor areas).
- What are the schools like near St Mary's & St James?
- St Mary's & St James scores 43 for education, based on Ofsted ratings and walking distance to the nearest rated primary and secondary schools. 2 schools within a kilometre hold an Outstanding rating.
Where else to look
Wards with a similar profile
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- Chingford Green · Waltham Forest
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Find areas that score like this one, with the price difference for each.
Nearby wards
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