Guide to Leyton

Just one stop from Stratford by tube, 15 mins from Bank, 20 from Canary Wharf and 25 from Oxford Circus, Leyton has risen high on the list of places to live for busy Londoners looking for a swift commute and an enjoyable local life.

Packed with an Edwardian and Victorian mix of houses and maisonettes, Leyton has also collected some of East London’s best places to eat and drink: from coffees at Curved Brick and Perky Blenders; to breakfast, cake and street food at Deeney’s café; to the wonderful collection of independent shops on Francis Road, becoming known as Leyton Village. There's also a fine clutch of pubs including William the Fourth, The Leyton Technical, The Heathcote & Star, The Northcote, and The Coach & Horses.

Once quite a bit cheaper and more down at heel than its next door neighbour, Leytonstone, more recently parts of Leyton have become equally as popular and the lines between the two, particularly around Francis Road, are now almost invisible from the property buying public.

You’ll find lots and lots of hefty Edwardian terraces, with particular hotspots in Lyndhurst Drive, Forest Drive, Fletcher Lane, the Barclay Roads (also known as the Barclay Estate) and the streets just off Church Road. For the always in-demand purpose built Victorian maisonettes, head to the streets off Francis Road that were built by the Abrahams Trust.

There are plenty of schools rated ‘Good’ by Ofsted. Primaries are Downsell, Colegrave, Dawlish, Mayville, St Joseph's Catholic, Riverley and Barclay, with Lammas School and Sports College, George Mitchell, and Connaught for Girls making up the secondaries.