Custom House
Neighbourhood · 16,891 residents
50Fair
Fair · better than 1 in 10 suburbs
Check Local Score out of 100 · 60 is typical for the country
Each arc is a topic, coloured by its score
What’s good
- 100% of schools are rated Good or better by Ofsted
Check before you view
- Flood risk: 94% of the area is in the highest flood zone, so check the street
- Prices are high for local incomes: affordability scores 33, where 60 is typical
The essentials
Everyday life
The area
Around Custom House
Map outline: Approximate — electoral ward boundary, used as the nearest surveyed shape
Is Custom House a good place to live?
Custom House scores 50/100 overall, which the scorecard rates as fair — 60 is typical for the country.
It stands out for schools (78).
It scores lowest on affordability (33).
Scores come from official data on safety, schools, transport, prices, health, food & drink and the local environment, for Custom House in London, each measured against the national average.
Summary of Custom House
Custom House is blocks of newer-build flats and terraces pressed close together, DLR viaducts overhead, and the ExCel centre's glass bulk never far from view — this is a place shaped by regeneration money and transport infrastructure rather than by any older village centre. You'll see a lot of young adults, building-site hoardings turned into flats, and the general churn of an area still being assembled.
The schools here are the standout feature, and it's worth sitting with that for a moment: Scott Wilkie Primary, Tollgate Primary and New City Primary are all rated Outstanding, which for a single suburb is unusual. Cumberland Community School backs that up at secondary level with a strongly positive Progress 8 score. Transport is equally central to the deal — Custom House Station and Prince Regent DLR put you on the Elizabeth line and DLR network directly, which is a serious commuting asset into the City or Canary Wharf. With a median age of 34, this reads as a working-age, commuter-and-young-family population taking advantage of fast trains and good primaries rather than a retirement spot.
Housing is dominated by terraced freehold sales — the typical For Sale board here says solid, newer-built family house rather than ex-council conversion or new-build flat-in-a-tower, even though flats make up a meaningful slice of the market too. At a median of £400,000, property sits modestly below the Newham average and well below the London regional figure, which is part of why buyers who'd be priced out of neighbouring parts of the capital end up here. The price trend has been essentially flat over the past year, so this isn't a market promising quick movement either way. On green space, the area has markedly less provision per head than the regional average, though 18 green spaces across the suburb still give you somewhere to walk a dog or kick a ball without planning a journey.