Upper Clapton
Hackney 029 · 4 sub-areas · 8,090 residents
Hackney 029, in the London Borough of Hackney, is home to around 8,090 people and stands out for its exceptionally high social housing rate — over half of households rent from the council or a housing association. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for around £2,430 a month, and with a rail station roughly six minutes from a major employment hub, central London is genuinely close.
Upper Clapton 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.
Overview
What's it like to live in Upper Clapton?
The area is unusually green for its density — 5 parks and 14 playgrounds sit within five minutes' walk of the centroid; 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 4 sub-areas — population-weighted means for rates, sums for counts. Sources cited beneath each section.
Upper Clapton in Hackney
Living in Upper Clapton
Hackney 029 is one of the most socially mixed patches in an already diverse borough. Social housing accounts for just over half of all tenures here — an unusually high concentration even by inner-London standards — which means the neighbourhood has a very different feel from the polished, privately rented postcodes nearby. That tenure mix shapes everything from the pace of the streets to the demographic profile: it's not a neighbourhood that's been smoothed out by gentrification in the way some of the adjacent Hackney areas have.
On cost, the figures tell an honest story. At around £2,430 a month for a two-bedroom flat, rents are elevated by any measure outside the capital — more than double the UK average for the same size property. A one-bedroom runs closer to £1,950. The rent-to-income ratio here effectively exceeds full take-home pay at the local median salary, which means most private renters are either earning well above average, sharing costs with a partner, or both. Council tax (Band D) adds around £2,060 a year on top.
The population skews noticeably young, with children and under-18s making up a third of residents — well above the London norm — and nearly three in ten residents are in the 18–34 bracket. One in three households is a single-person household, and couples with children account for roughly a quarter. The ethnic diversity index sits at 65.1, reflecting a genuinely mixed community, with just over two-thirds of residents UK-born.
For getting around, the area scores strongly. The nearest mainline rail station is under 500 metres away — a six-minute walk at most — and from there, the journey into London's core employment hubs takes around six minutes by public transport. Nearly three in ten residents work from home, and just 16% commute by car, which is low even for inner London. Broadband coverage is full gigabit across the entire neighbourhood. See the streets and sub-areas below for more.
What you'll need on day one
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Frequently asked
- Is Hackney 029 a nice place to live?
- It depends on what you're looking for. The transport links are excellent — central London is roughly six minutes away by rail — and the community is genuinely diverse. But the private rent-to-income ratio exceeds 100% of median take-home pay, and the area sits in the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods in England. It suits renters who can absorb high costs or who access social housing.
- What is the rent in Hackney 029?
- A one-bedroom flat runs around £1,950 a month, a two-bedroom around £2,430, and a three-bedroom about £2,780. Rents rose roughly 2.5% over the past year. These are estimates scaled from borough-level data using local sale prices, so treat them as a guide rather than a precise figure.
- Is Hackney 029 safe?
- The crime rate is around 135 incidents per 1,000 residents annually, which is notably above the UK national rate of roughly 80. Inner London boroughs generally run higher than the national average, but Hackney 029 is on the elevated end even by those standards. Conditions vary by street, so checking specific road-level data before committing is sensible.
- What's the commute from Hackney 029 to central London?
- Very fast. The nearest mainline rail station is under 500 metres away — a six-minute walk — and the journey to a central London employment hub takes around six minutes by public transport from there. It's one of the stronger commuter positions in the borough.
- Who lives in Hackney 029?
- A genuinely mixed community. Over half of households are in social housing, a third of residents are under 18, and nearly three in ten are aged 18–34. The ethnic diversity index is 65.1, and just over two-thirds of residents were born in the UK. Single-person households account for nearly a third of all homes.
- What schools are near Hackney 029?
- There are 149 schools within 2 km of most residents, so the choice is wide. Around 55% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — below the national average of about 89%, though the nearest Outstanding-rated school is just 565 metres away. Check individual catchment boundaries carefully, as inner-London admissions can be competitive.
- Is Hackney 029 deprived?
- By official measures, yes. It sits in IMD decile 1, meaning it's among the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods in England. The claimant unemployment rate is 7%, and the rent-to-income ratio for private renters exceeds 100% of median local take-home pay. The high social housing concentration reflects that deprivation profile.