Flats to Rent in Bexley

Renting in Bexley

In August 2026 Bexley had the lowest average private rent of any London borough on the ONS measure; the table above shows the latest figures. The catch is council tax: Band D is £2,366.36 in 2026/27, the eighth highest of London's 33 council areas and about £298 a year more than the London average of £2,068 (MHCLG). Bexley has no tube, Overground, DLR or tram; Southeastern trains, Thameslink and the Elizabeth line at Abbey Wood carry its commuters.

It is a borough of owners. At the 2021 Census, 68.6% of Bexley's households owned their home and 14.7% rented from a council or housing association. Only 15.3% rented privately, the lowest share in Greater London. The borough had about 246,500 residents (ONS). With so small a private rented sector, expect fewer homes to choose from.

The riverside towns

The North Kent line runs along the Thames side of the borough. Abbey Wood station is on the boundary: its entrance is in Bexley and its platforms in Greenwich. It is the eastern end of the Elizabeth line's south-east branch, with Southeastern and Thameslink trains as well. Belvedere, Erith and Slade Green have Southeastern trains through Woolwich to London Bridge and Cannon Street, some via Greenwich and some via Lewisham. Thameslink trains call at Slade Green but not at Belvedere or Erith.

Belvedere is the one ward with selective licensing (see below). Lesnes Abbey Woods, around the ruins of an abbey founded in 1178, are on the Abbey Wood side. Crossness Pumping Station, built in 1859 to 1865 for Bazalgette's sewers and Grade I listed, stands on the marshes and opens to visitors on set days. Erith has a pier and Riverside Gardens on the Thames Path. Thamesmead, to the west, is split between Bexley and Greenwich, and the planned Thamesmead Waterfront new town, of up to 15,000 homes, is on the Greenwich side.

The middle of the borough

The Bexleyheath line, through Falconwood, Welling, Bexleyheath and Barnehurst, has Southeastern trains via Lewisham. Bexleyheath is the borough's main shopping town, around the Broadway and the Broadway Shopping Centre. Red House, built in 1859 to 1860 by Philip Webb for William Morris and Grade I listed, is in Bexleyheath and run by the National Trust. Danson Park, between Welling and Bexleyheath, has a lake and Danson House. Bexley Grammar School is in Welling and Townley Grammar School in Bexleyheath.

The south of the borough

The Dartford Loop line, through Albany Park, Sidcup, Bexley and Crayford, has Southeastern trains to London Bridge and Charing Cross, some via Lewisham and some direct. Sidcup has Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance and Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School, and Foots Cray Meadows, along the River Cray, is on its eastern side.

Old Bexley's High Street is the old village centre. Hall Place, a house built in 1537 for the merchant Sir John Champneys and run with its gardens by the Bexley Heritage Trust, is between Bexley and Crayford. Beths Grammar School is in Bexley. Bexley station is in Zone 6.

Licensing

Selective licensing covers Belvedere ward only, from 13 January 2025 for five years: every privately let home there needs a council licence, including a house shared by three or four people, unless it needs a mandatory HMO licence instead (a few lettings are exempt). Bexley has no additional licensing scheme, so elsewhere in the borough a shared home needs a licence only when five or more people from two or more households share facilities (the national mandatory scheme). If you rent in Belvedere, ask for the licence number.

Getting around

The three lines meet at Dartford, just over the boundary in Kent. Some trains run between Erith and Bexleyheath without a change, but there is no direct off-peak train between Bexleyheath and Sidcup: change trains or take a bus. For central London, the North Kent line and the Elizabeth line at Abbey Wood serve the north of the borough, and the Bexleyheath and Dartford Loop lines the middle and south. The Elizabeth line from Abbey Wood runs to Canary Wharf, Liverpool Street, Tottenham Court Road and Paddington. Check a specific commute on the TfL Journey Planner at the time you would travel before you sign.

Schools

Bexley has four state grammar schools: Beths (boys, with a mixed sixth form), Bexley Grammar (mixed), Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar (mixed) and Townley Grammar (girls, with a mixed sixth form), all admitting at 11 through one Bexley selection test. The non-selective secondaries include Bexleyheath Academy, Blackfen School for Girls, Cleeve Park School, Haberdashers' Crayford Academy, Harris Academy Falconwood, Hurstmere School, Leigh Academy Bexley, Trinity School and Welling School. St Catherine's (girls) and St Columba's (boys) are the Catholic secondaries. Ofsted no longer gives a single overall grade, so read each school's latest report and its admissions criteria.

Parks and open space

Danson Park, Hall Place's gardens, Lesnes Abbey Woods and Foots Cray Meadows are among the borough's biggest green spaces (Foots Cray Meadows covers 97 hectares and Danson Park 75), and the Thames Path follows the river at Erith and Crossness. The Green Chain Walk links Lesnes Abbey Woods with the parks and woods of Greenwich, Lewisham and Bromley.

Safety

Borough-wide crime rates hide big differences from one street to the next. Look up the street you are considering on police.uk, which maps reported crime month by month, and compare it with its neighbours.

Who it suits

Bexley suits renters who want one of the lowest rents in London and a house rather than a flat. It works best for jobs near London Bridge, Charing Cross or Cannon Street (or Victoria, from the Bexleyheath line), or on the Elizabeth line from Abbey Wood. It suits less well anyone who needs the tube, wants a wide choice of rented homes, or would cross the borough between its three railway lines every day.

Useful links

Bexley Council: bexley.gov.uk (council tax, property licensing, school admissions)
Crime by street: police.uk
Journeys: tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey

The listings above are homes and rooms advertised by their landlords in Bexley now. Check which of the three railway lines the nearest station is on: each takes a different route into London.