Good neighbours: Bexley and Bromley come top 10 in capital survey (From News Shopper)

Good neighbours: Bexley and Bromley come top 10 in capital survey

2:00pm Thursday 23rd August 2012 in News By Tim MacFarlan, Bexley and north Kent reporter

NEIGHBOURS in Bexley and Bromley are among the friendliest in London according to a new survey.

In Bexley 85.6 per cent of respondents believe their neighbours look out for them, putting the borough second in the capital behind Havering with 85.9 per cent.

Bromley came fourth with 84.5 per cent and it seems both boroughs are cheap and cheerful as average house prices in Bexley are among the lowest in the capital at £226,089, while Bromley is firmly in the bottom half at £312,000.

There seems to be a city centre versus suburbs divide on community spirit as only one central London borough, Kensington and Chelsea, made the top 10.

When it comes to unfriendliness the most stand-offish borough is Haringey, according to the study by Experian Consumer Services.

East London emerges as the least friendly area in the capital, with six of the bottom 10 boroughs, including four of London’s five Olympic boroughs to the east of the city.

Nationwide, south Northamptonshire was the most neighbourly part of the UK but the home counties took half of the top 10 places.

Elmbridge in Surrey was the best of those, with almost 94 per cent of those surveyed agreeing their neighbours looked out for them.

Top 10 London boroughs for best neighbours:

1. Havering – 85.9%
2. Bexley – 85.6%
3. Kensington & Chelsea – 85.6%
4. Bromley – 84.5%
5. Sutton – 82.9%
6. Richmond upon Thames – 82.6%
7. Kingston upon Thames – 81.0%
8. Barnet – 80.4%
9. Harrow – 79.2%
10. Brent – 78.9%