Clapton Leaside
Hackney 028 · 5 sub-areas · 8,497 residents
Hackney 028 is a densely populated pocket of Hackney, home to around 8,500 people, with a strong social-housing character that sets it apart from much of inner east London. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for about £2,430 a month — noticeably below the central London norm, though still well above the national average. Nearly half of households here are in social or council-rented homes, which is rare at this level of London.
Clapton Leaside is a green, lower-density part of Hackney — parks within walking distance of most addresses, a slower weekday rhythm, and a population skewed toward longer-tenure households rather than transient renters. The demographic profile leans family-aged, with a clear share of households with school-age children; a high share of adults are degree-educated, which often shows up in the kind of jobs people commute to.
Overview
What's it like to live in Clapton Leaside?
3 parks and 6 playgrounds are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; Recorded crime is higher than the national norm — common for built-up urban areas, but worth weighing if you're looking for a quieter base; Public transport is genuinely strong; most errands and a fair share of social life don't need a car; rents sit firmly in the upper bracket nationally, with a typical home letting at around £2,598 a month; gigabit broadband is effectively universal.
Generated from the latest May 2026 data · refreshed automatically
Figures are aggregated across 5 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Clapton Leaside in Hackney
Living in Clapton Leaside
Hackney 028 sits firmly in the inner east, and what marks it out from neighbouring parts of Hackney is the tenure mix. Around 44% of households are in social rented accommodation — a share you rarely see this high in Zone 2 London. That shapes who lives here and what the neighbourhood feels like: more rooted, less transient than the private-rental-heavy streets nearby.
On cost, it's cheaper than most of central and inner London but that needs context. A two-bedroom flat runs about £2,430 a month in the private market, and a one-bedroom around £1,950. Council tax (Band D) comes to roughly £2,060 a year. For buyers, the median sale price sits just under £400,000. The headline rent-to-take-home figure is eye-watering — the median resident salary here doesn't quite cover a median private rent — which partly explains why owner-occupation is only around 22% and why the social housing stock matters so much to the community.
The population skews younger than the London average. Nearly 30% of residents are aged 18 to 34, and under-18s make up over a quarter of the population — so this is a neighbourhood with a lot of families and young adults, not the older, settled owner-occupier profile you'd find further out. Almost 40% of residents work from home at least some of the time, and the ethnic diversity index of 69 reflects a genuinely mixed community: just under 62% of residents were born in the UK.
For commuters, connectivity is the neighbourhood's biggest practical asset. A major rail station is roughly 400 metres away — about a five-minute walk — and central London is accessible in around five minutes by public transport. That commute time is among the shortest you'll find anywhere in Hackney. See the streets and sub-areas below for more on how the neighbourhood breaks down locally.
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Frequently asked
- Is Hackney 028 a nice place to live?
- It depends what you're looking for. The rail connections into central London are excellent — about five minutes away — and greenspace is within easy reach for 83% of residents. The trade-off is a crime rate above the national average and a private rental market that's expensive relative to local incomes. It suits people who value connectivity and community over quiet suburban comfort.
- What is the rent in Hackney 028?
- A one-bedroom flat runs around £1,950 a month, a two-bedroom about £2,430, and a three-bedroom roughly £2,780. These are estimates scaled from borough-level data using local sale prices. Over 40% of households here are in social housing, so those figures reflect only the private rental market.
- Is Hackney 028 safe?
- Crime runs at about 116 incidents per 1,000 residents a year — above the UK national average of roughly 80. That's typical for inner east London, where footfall and density push recorded crime higher. The neighbourhood sits in the second-most-deprived decile nationally, which correlates with the elevated rate. It's not unusually dangerous for its location, but it's worth being aware.
- What's the commute from Hackney 028 to central London?
- Around five minutes by public transport, which is exceptionally fast. The nearest mainline rail station is roughly 400 metres away — about a five-minute walk. That makes this one of the best-connected neighbourhoods in Hackney for London commuters, and explains why 39% of residents work from home at least part of the time without sacrificing access.
- Who lives in Hackney 028?
- A mixed community, skewing young. Nearly 30% of residents are aged 18 to 34, and over 27% are under 18, so families and young adults dominate. Around 44% of households are in social housing — unusually high for inner London — and only 22% own their home. The ethnic diversity index is 69, reflecting a genuinely varied population.
- What schools are near Hackney 028?
- There are 188 schools within 2 km, so options are plentiful. Around 59% of those nearby schools are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — below the national average of roughly 89%, so quality varies and it's worth checking individual schools. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is approximately 300 metres away. Use the Hackney council school finder or Ofsted's website for named primaries and secondaries.
- How affordable is buying a home in Hackney 028?
- The median sale price is just under £392,000. On a median resident salary of around £40,000, saving a deposit takes roughly five years — assuming you're saving aggressively. That's broadly in line with inner east London but significantly above the national norm. The private rental market doesn't offer much relief either, with rents running above median take-home pay.