The borough has been named the least friendly place in England by the Community Life Survey – so we went to the East London borough to find out if it’s really as unwelcoming as the results suggest
Milo Boyd Digital Travel Editor and Commercial Content Lead
03:30, 25 Aug 2026
A place can be several things at once.
It can be somewhere residents pause for pavement conversations, where neighbours watch over each other and a thriving market defies the decline plaguing Britain’s high streets.
Simultaneously, it can be somewhere grappling with soaring crime figures, deprivation and homelessness levels, an underfunded local authority and a serious childhood obesity crisis.
Barking and Dagenham encompasses all of these realities. And now this multifaceted East London borough has acquired another distinction.
It has been declared the least friendly location in the nation according to the Community Life Survey, which measured how frequently residents speak with neighbours, experiences of isolation and community connection, local pride, and engagement in civic activities.
I chose to visit Barking to discover whether locals would be prepared to discuss this damaging new title, or if my questions would receive a frosty reception.
Zabi Hullh, who has called Barking home since arriving in the country nine years ago, was eager to share his perspective on just how unwelcoming Barking can be. He operates a bustling corner shop along the main market strip, so isolation certainly isn’t an issue for him, yet he perceives Barking as a temporary and transactional location.
“A lot of people go elsewhere to work in the day, and then only come back at night to sleep,” he tells me as his brother listens on. Given my arrival in Barking on a grey Thursday afternoon, his description seems at odds with the crowds I encounter filling the vibrant market.
It’s considerably more animated and spirited than most London neighbourhoods at that hour, teeming with shoppers negotiating with traders, couples conversing outside cafés, and patrons savouring an early pint outside the local.
Barking has hosted a market along this street for centuries, with the current collection of 80 stalls recently revitalised. Plans existed to add an enormous fish market to replace Smithfield and Billingsgate at Dagenham Docks, though these proposals were ultimately deemed financially unviable.
Two residents enjoying a cup of tea outside were John and Bobby Bradford, lifelong Barking inhabitants. The pair are passionate advocates for the borough, which they’ve consistently found “very friendly”.
“We know our neighbours very well,” John, a former BBC lighting technician, said. Bobby added: “It seems no more or less lonely than anywhere else.”
Lola Adams shares this sentiment. Whenever her schedule permits, she visits Barking Market to share the Gospel, partly because she finds locals conversational and “willing to engage”.
“I think loneliness is a state of mind. You can be with people and still be lonely. Faith, not religion, is what will help you. Knowing that someone is there with you,” Lola said.
However, this represents just one perspective. There are numerous others I encounter who hold far less optimistic views about the area and the difficulties it confronts.
Alex Vilau operates a Romanian food kiosk alongside her husband Dragos and witnesses many of Barking’s challenges unfold before her eyes each day.
“There are a lot of homeless people and a lot of drugs,” said Alex, who’s worked in Barking for four years. “Homelessness is the biggest problem.”
While the research evaluates friendliness, isolation and other community-centred indicators, it’s impossible to separate the deep-seated issues the borough confronts from how its inhabitants think, feel and behave.
The catalogue of difficulties Barking and Dagenham encounters is too extensive to detail completely. Among the concerning statistics is an Index of Multiple Deprivation rating of 10 (the poorest possible), positioning it amongst the five most disadvantaged local authorities in England, alongside Newham.
Approximately 29% of inhabitants live in poverty, and nearly half of youngsters, 42%, are experiencing childhood poverty, while 23% of residents earn low wages, representing the highest proportion across any London borough.
The borough records the highest level of excess weight amongst Year 6 pupils nationally and falls within the worst quintile for excess weight among grown-ups.
The message from leadership is grim. “In real terms, we receive 40% less funding than 15 years ago and barely 17% of our funding comes from Council Tax paid by residents. Like many other councils we are caught in a perfect storm. Funding for local services has not kept up pace with demand or the cost of providing services which has risen sharply,” Councillor Dominic Twomey, Leader of Barking and Dagenham Council, recently said.
“2025 is the first time in years the core funding we receive from the government has risen. But this does not make up for the lack of funding since 2010/11.”
Imran Butt operates a clothing stall halfway along the market and has been a resident of the borough for three decades. Throughout that period, conditions have deteriorated significantly, he explained.
“It used to be,” Imran said when asked whether Barking is welcoming area. Daily, Imran maintains he witnesses distressed people who’ve fallen victim to pickpockets, while observing the JD Sports opposite being targeted by groups of shoplifters has become equally routine.
The prevalence of gangs and serious crime locally leaves Imran reluctant to allow his teenage children into the town centre unaccompanied. “It’s dangerous. It’s not a safe place,” he said.
While opinions varied considerably, everyone interviewed concurred that Barking was previously a more welcoming community and that things used to be better there.
At the complete opposite end of the spectrum sit the Isles of Scilly, South Ham and the Derbyshire Dales, which received recognition as the three most welcoming locations across the nation.
Do you agree with the survey findings? You can submit your own responses until October, or drop us a line at [email protected] if you’d prefer to share your thoughts that way.
