Loading borough…
Neighbourhood profile
Poplar
Tower Hamlets, London
PocketsPoplar West (Pennyfields Park · Poplar Recreation Ground)Blackwall
Poplar sits between Limehouse and the Isle of Dogs in Tower Hamlets, a ward whose grain is set by the East India Dock Road spine and the Lansbury estate. Around seventeen per cent of the ward sits inside a conservation area. The thirty-two listed buildings include the Grade II* Church of St Matthias, the Grade II* former Financial Times print works at East India Dock House and the Grade II* War Memorial to the Children of Upper North Street School, commemorating the 1917 Gotha bomber raid. Construction of the Lansbury estate began in 1951 as the Live Architecture Exhibition for the Festival of Britain, led by London County Council planners. Transport is very good, with the Jubilee line at Canning Town and Canary Wharf, the DLR at All Saints and the Elizabeth line at Canary Wharf. The downsides are stark: safety sits in the bottom tenth of London wards, air quality is poor along the A13 and A1203, and green space is limited to Poplar Recreation Ground and canal-side slips.
- Strongest84Connectivity
Excellent public-transport access
- Also strong62Heritage
Dense with listed buildings and conservation-area coverage
- Watch out14Safety
Higher recorded crime, driven by specific categories
At a glance
- Very good public-transport access
- 32 listed buildings
- 17.3% covered by a conservation area
- 5 schools rated Outstanding by Ofsted within 1 km
- Largest green space: Poplar Recreation Ground (1.9 hectares)
- 82 open venues (25 food and drink, 57 other)
3 pockets across 2 named areas · coloured by overall score.See on full map ↗
This is one of 684 London wards
Find the London that fits you
Poplar is one answer. The wizard scores all 684 wards against your budget, commute and priorities, then hands you a ranked shortlist of the areas that actually fit.
5 questions · about a minute · free
Browse listings
The Lansbury estate in Poplar began construction in 1951 as the Live Architecture Exhibition for the Festival of Britain, with Frederick Gibberd's Chrisp Street Market as its central retail piece.
Poplar, layer by layer
Every layer’s score is free. Seven deep-dives — here and on every area, one pass — unlock with the Day Pass ↓
Scores as of 23 Aug 2026 · prices to 2026 · crime to Jun 2026 · air 2022 · sources
Property prices & growth
37Better than 19% of London
How scores work - Purchase affordability60
- Rent affordability25
- Price momentum (5yr)57
- Activity (turnover)4
Locked
Prices, rent & trends
£ per square foot to buy, an estimated 2-bed rent, and decades of sale-price history for this ward.
For Poplar: 8 sales recorded (2025)32-yr price trend £—
Safety
14Among the lowest in London
- Personal safety13
- Property crime17
- Anti-social behaviour12
Locked
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 Poplar: personal, property & anti-social breakdown24-mo trend to Jun 2026counts —
Connectivity
84Better than 93% of London
Median public-transport access is excellent (TfL PTAL 7.0 of 8 across this ward).
Locked
Connectivity deep-dive
Real TfL journey times to London's major hubs, plus this ward's transport access rank across London.
For Poplar: — min by TfL to 8 major hubsaccess rank —
Air & Quiet
23Better than 9% of London
- Air quality8
- Quietness45
Locked
Air & noise deep-dive
NO₂, PM2.5 and road/rail noise for this ward, each against WHO / UK limits.
Cultural Signal
46Better than 89% of London
- Nightlife7
- Dining14
- Arts & culture29
- Retail & shops14
- Sports & recreation57
- Independent scene100
- Vitality (openings, diversity)63
82 open venues nearby — 25 food & drink, 57 other.
Locked
Culture deep-dive
What's open nearby — the venue mix, share of independents, and recent openings.
For Poplar: the mix behind 82 open venues—% independent
Education
60Better than 80% of London
- Primary schools70
- Secondary schools50
Locked
School inspection history
Every school in this ward with its current Ofsted rating and multi-year trend.
For Poplar: 2 schools, each with its inspection record
Heritage
62Better than 82% of London
32 listed buildings · 17% under a conservation area
- Church of St Matthias Grade II*
- East India Dock House, Former Financial Times Print WorksGrade II*
- War Memorial to the Children of Upper North Street SchoolGrade II*
From Historic England's National Heritage List for England.
Nature Access
53Better than 23% of London
- Green spaces51
- Waterways85
Largest green space: Poplar Recreation Ground (2 ha). ~7 ha of green space in total.
Area development
37Better than 98% of London
Locked
Planning pipeline
Named recent approvals with homes and floorspace, the local homes pipeline, and the affordable share.
Unlock the full details
Unlock the full details for Poplar — and every other London area
Day Pass or WAYB+ — either one unlocks your full shortlist and every area profile on the site, not just this page.
- 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 Poplar
For Poplar: 8 sales recorded (2025)32-yr price history £—24-mo crime trend to Jun 2026TfL times to 8 hubs — min2 schools' inspection records82 venues mapped
What unlocked sections look like · example ward, not this one
WAYB+ · month to month
- Everything in the Day Pass — kept on for your whole search
- “What’s changing” on every ward: new approvals, openings and closures, score shifts
- Cancel anytime
Day Pass · 24 hours
A day of full access — every area, your whole shortlist.
- Your full wizard shortlist, revealed
- Every area deep-dive: prices, crime by type, schools, air, commute
- The planning pipeline and cheaper lookalike areas
- Unlimited saves and shareable links
Already bought? Don't pay again — open the confirmation email from where are you based? and tap Restore access to sign back in on this device.
Make it personal
Poplar might not even be your best match — run the wizard with your own budget and commute. About 90 seconds.
What's changing in Poplar
Locked
What's changing (WAYB+)
The last 90 days here: new approvals, venue openings and closures, school inspections, score shifts. Subscription only.
Already bought? Don't pay again — open the confirmation email from where are you based? and tap Restore access to sign back in on this device.
Poplar, quick answers
- Is Poplar safe?
- Poplar scores 14 for safety, based on street-level recorded crime (police.uk) — recording more crime than most London wards. 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 Poplar a good place to live?
- Poplar scores 47 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 connectivity (84) and heritage (62); its weakest is safety (14). 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 Poplar?
- Very good public-transport access: Transport for London rates the typical spot in Poplar 7 on its 0–8 public-transport access scale, which puts the ward at 84 for connectivity relative to the rest of London.
- Is Poplar expensive to buy in?
- Relative to the rest of London, Poplar is mid-priced by London standards: its purchase-affordability score is 12/20, where higher means cheaper per square foot (HM Land Registry sold prices matched to floor areas).
- What are the schools like near Poplar?
- Poplar scores 60 for education, based on Ofsted ratings and walking distance to the nearest rated primary and secondary schools. 5 schools within a kilometre hold an Outstanding rating.
Where else to look
Wards with a similar profile
- Bethnal Green West · Tower Hamlets
- Vauxhall · Lambeth
- North Walworth · Southwark
- Shepherd's Bush Green · Hammersmith and Fulham
Locked
Neighbourhood matches
Find areas that score like this one, with the price difference for each.
Nearby wards
- Blackwall & Cubitt Town · Tower Hamlets
- Canary Wharf · Tower Hamlets
- Lansbury · Tower Hamlets
- Limehouse · Tower Hamlets
- Mile End · Tower Hamlets
More affordable, similar areas
- Abbey · Barking and DagenhamMore affordable
Like Poplar?
Find a London like this
See the London wards that score most like Poplar — especially its Connectivity and Heritage.
One quick thing
Is this page accurate?
Got something we missed or got wrong about Poplar? Let us know.