Gentrified London neighbourhoods seeing major population churn, further research reveals

In gentrified parts of London, people are increasingly moving in from less disadvantaged areas and from further away, amplifying city-wide patterns.

We recently commissioned Professor Paul Longley's consumer data team at UCL to expand our 2025 research into gentrification in London. The team tracked 25 years of data, exploring how people move into, out of and across London.

The research particularly focused on the 53 neighbourhoods that had been identified as gentrified in the earlier research.

These neighbourhoods saw their average incomes increase significantly between 2012 and 2020. The earlier research also found that their populations changed significantly - with a remarkable drop in their Black population and fewer families with children.

Key findings:

  • Gentrified London is changing fast – and differently to the rest of the city.
  • Moves into and out of gentrified London now make up a growing share of all moves in the capital, pointing to greater churn and transformation within these neighbourhoods.
  • People moving into gentrified areas are coming from further away than those moving to other parts of London – a trend that’s grown sharply over the past 20 years.
  • They’re also moving from less deprived neighbourhoods, suggesting these areas are attracting more affluent residents, and that perceptions of once-deprived parts of the city are shifting.
  • London's "escalator effect" is weakening. The traditional pattern of young families leaving London for better housing and neighbourhoods appears to have decreased over time, potentially reflecting how the housing crisis is making it harder to springboard out of the capital.

Explore the data at a glance:

What this means

London’s housing crisis is the biggest challenge to decent living standards in the city. It’s driving more than a million Londoners into poverty, leading to record levels of homelessness and, as shown in previous research we commissioned, holding the city’s economy back.

This new research shows how it’s also changing the fundamental fabric of much of the city.

The findings suggest gentrification is intensifying housing pressures in specific neighbourhoods, fundamentally changing the capital's social fabric and who can afford to live where.

While all of London is experiencing shifts in migration patterns - with people moving from further away and the traditional "escalator effect" weakening - gentrified areas are experiencing these changes at a faster rate, suggesting these neighbourhoods are at the sharp end of the housing crisis.

"These 53 neighbourhoods all had lower than average incomes in 2012 and saw big increases by 2020," the research notes. "This new analysis illustrates the pace of change and population churn that gentrification is causing."

The transformation isn't uniform across all gentrified neighbourhoods. Some have shown slow rises from a low base, while others - like Bromley-By-Bow West - have seen rapid changes from around 2012 onwards, suggesting deliberate redevelopment-driven transformation.

The research builds on analysis we commissioned earlier 2025 analysis which first identified these 53 gentrified neighbourhoods and documented how their populations are changing.

Susie Dye, housing lead at Trust for London, said:

“The cost of housing in London is out of reach for many – we see this in the city’s record levels of homelessness and high levels of poverty, and we even know that it’s holding the economy back. 

“This new research adds to the picture of how London's housing crisis is fundamentally reshaping our city. Gentrification is pushing out more and more of the families and workers who keep London running – and risks leaving behind a hollowed-out shell that only the wealthy can call home.

"We need the national commitment to building affordable housing to make a difference on the ground here in London, fast.”

Professor Paul Longley of UCL’s Geographic Data Service said:

“’Gentrification’ is used as an umbrella term to describe rather different neighbourhood trajectories and outcomes. This work demonstrates that new, high resolution and frequently updated data sources can shed light on the detail and pace of local changes in diverse settings across London.”

Find out more about the research