Cannon Hill
Merton 021 · 5 sub-areas · 8,070 residents
Merton 021 is a residential corner of Merton in south London, home to around 8,070 people and strongly owner-occupied — over four in five households own their home. A typical two-bedroom flat lets for about £1,940 a month, and the nearest major employment hub is just over 11 minutes away by public transport.
Cannon Hill is a commuter neighbourhood within Merton — train into London runs in around 11 minutes, and the rhythm of weekday mornings is shaped by it. Most homes are owner-occupied, so turnover is low and many residents have been here a long time; 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 Cannon Hill?
2 parks are within five minutes' walk, so greenspace is reliably close at hand; there's effectively nothing within walking distance — eating out, drinking and shopping mean a drive; The streets feel safe by national standards — police-recorded crime is well below the country-wide median; 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 £2,083 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.
Cannon Hill in Merton
Living in Cannon Hill
This part of Merton sits firmly in the residential, family-oriented south London belt. The area's defining characteristic is stability — an 81% homeownership rate is unusually high even by London suburban standards, and the population skews towards established families rather than the young transient renters you'd find closer to the centre. Greenspace is genuinely accessible: the typical resident is within about 200 metres of it, and nearly 87% of the area has walkable green cover nearby.
On the cost side, rents are well below central London levels. A two-bedroom home runs around £1,940 a month — noticeably cheaper than many inner London equivalents, but still meaningfully above the UK national median of roughly £1,200. A one-bedroom starts at about £1,570, and a three-bedroom averages around £2,300. Rents rose just 1.7% over the past year, which is modest by recent London norms. For buyers, the median sale price of around £612,000 puts the area firmly in south London suburban territory — not cheap, but not Zone 1 prices either.
The population is a mix of families and older settled residents. Couples with children make up over a quarter of households, the 35–49 age group is the largest single cohort at 23%, and nearly 18% of residents are 65 or over. With 45% holding a degree-level qualification, this is an educated, professionally employed area — though most of that employment happens elsewhere: residents earn a median of around £43,500 a year, while jobs physically located here pay a median closer to £33,000, a gap of over £10,000 that reflects how many people commute out.
For practical considerations, the nearest mainline rail station is roughly 900 metres away — about an 11-minute walk — and the nearest underground station is around 1.5 km on the straight line. See the streets and sub-areas below for more on how location within the neighbourhood affects both prices and commute options.
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Frequently asked
- Is Merton 021 a nice place to live?
- For families and settled professionals, yes — it's a low-crime, well-connected south London neighbourhood with excellent greenspace access and a strong community of long-term homeowners. The trade-off is that rents and sale prices are firmly above average, and the Ofsted picture for nearby schools requires careful research.
- What is the rent in Merton 021?
- A one-bedroom typically runs around £1,570 a month, a two-bedroom about £1,940, and a three-bedroom roughly £2,300. These are neighbourhood-level estimates scaled from local sale prices, as official ONS data only goes to borough level. Rents rose around 1.7% over the past year.
- Is Merton 021 safe?
- Yes — the crime rate is around 30 incidents per 1,000 residents annually, well below the national average of roughly 80 per 1,000. The area sits in the top 10% least deprived nationally, which correlates strongly with lower crime. There are no particular high-risk pockets flagged in the data.
- What's the commute from Merton 021 to central London?
- The nearest mainline rail station is about 900 metres away — roughly an 11-minute walk — and from there central London is reachable in just over 11 minutes by public transport. The area has a commuter-town designation, so train services are geared towards central London workers.
- Who lives in Merton 021?
- Mostly owner-occupying families and older settled residents. Over four in five households own their home, couples with children make up more than a quarter of households, and the largest age group is 35–49. It's a well-educated area — 45% hold a degree — with a median resident salary of around £43,500.
- What schools are near Merton 021?
- There are 96 schools within typical catchment distance, though only around 20% are rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted — well below the national share of roughly 89%. The nearest Outstanding school is approximately 1,774 metres away. It's worth researching individual catchment boundaries carefully before committing to a move.
- Is Merton 021 good for families?
- It has a lot going for it — low crime, excellent greenspace access (87% of the area is within walking distance of green space), high homeownership, and a family-heavy demographic. The main caveat is the school Ofsted picture, where only around one in five nearby schools is rated Good or Outstanding.