Flats to Rent in Islington

Renting in Islington

Islington is a small, dense inner London borough that runs from Clerkenwell and Angel, a short walk from the City, north through Highbury and Holloway to Archway and the edge of Highgate. Almost all of it is Zone 1 or 2. On the ONS measure in the table above, its average rent is well above the London average, and the housing is mostly flats: Georgian and Victorian terraces split into conversions, mansion blocks, council estates and new-build blocks. Council tax is close to average: Band D is £2,108.15 in 2026/27, against a London average of £2,068 (MHCLG).

What you get for the rent is location. What you give up is space, both inside the flat and outside it: Islington has less open space than almost anywhere else in London.

The neighbourhoods

Angel and Upper Street

Upper Street, running north from Angel station to Highbury Corner, is the borough's main street for restaurants, bars and shops, with the Almeida Theatre and the King's Head Theatre along it. Camden Passage, just off it, has antique and vintage shops, and Chapel Market sells fruit, vegetables and street food. Angel is on the Northern line's Bank branch. Flats on and just behind Upper Street are convenient and lively; on Friday and Saturday nights they are also noisy, so check which way the bedroom faces.

Canonbury and Barnsbury

These two conservation areas either side of Upper Street have the borough's grandest terraces and garden squares: Canonbury Square, and in Barnsbury, Lonsdale, Gibson and Thornhill Squares. Canonbury Tower is a Tudor building that survives among them. The New River Walk, a landscaped stretch of the seventeenth-century water channel, runs through Canonbury. Transport is the Overground's Mildmay line at Canonbury and Caledonian Road and Barnsbury stations, with the Northern and Victoria lines a walk away. Most rentals here are flats in converted houses, often without lifts.

Highbury

Highbury is built around Highbury Fields, the largest open space in the borough, with tennis courts and Highbury Pool, an indoor leisure centre, on its edge. Highbury and Islington station is one of north London's busiest interchanges: the Victoria line, the Overground's Mildmay and Windrush lines, and Great Northern trains to Moorgate. Arsenal's Emirates Stadium is to the north-west, near Arsenal and Holloway Road stations; on match days the streets around it are closed and crowded, which matters if you are looking at a flat nearby.

Clerkenwell and Farringdon

Clerkenwell, in the south of the borough, is full of converted warehouses and workshops now used as offices, studios and flats. Exmouth Market is its lunch and evening street, Sadler's Wells theatre is on Rosebery Avenue, and City St George's, University of London, has its main campus at Northampton Square. Farringdon station, on the borough's southern edge, has the Elizabeth line, Thameslink, and the Circle, Hammersmith and City and Metropolitan lines, so few addresses in London are better connected. Rental homes are mostly flats, with warehouse conversions at the top of the market.

Holloway and Archway

Holloway Road runs north through the middle of the borough, with London Metropolitan University's campus and a mix of Victorian terraces, estates and new blocks around it. The Piccadilly line serves Holloway Road and Caledonian Road stations, and the Northern line's High Barnet branch serves Archway. Archway is also home to the Whittington Hospital. Streets on the slopes up towards Highgate and Dartmouth Park are quieter. Holloway Road itself is a busy main road, which keeps some flats along it cheaper.

Finsbury Park

Finsbury Park station, in Islington's north-east corner, is a major interchange: the Victoria and Piccadilly lines and Great Northern and Thameslink trains. The park itself is over the boundary in Haringey, and Stroud Green Road, with shops on both sides, marks the border between the two boroughs. The area around the station is busy and mixed, and it is usually where Islington's rents start to come down.

Getting around

Islington's transport is among the best in London. North-south, the Northern line (Angel, Old Street on the borough's edge, Archway), the Victoria line (Highbury and Islington, Finsbury Park) and the Piccadilly line (Caledonian Road, Holloway Road, Arsenal, Finsbury Park) run into central London; Great Northern trains run from Finsbury Park, Drayton Park and Essex Road to Moorgate. East-west, the Overground connects Highbury and Islington to Stratford, Hackney and west London. Many journeys into the City are short enough to cycle or walk. Check a specific commute on the TfL Journey Planner before you sign.

Schools

State secondaries include Highbury Fields School and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson School (both girls), Central Foundation Boys' School near Old Street, Highbury Grove School, St Aloysius' College and City of London Academy Islington. Faith and other schools with their own admissions rules do not admit on distance alone, and in a borough this dense popular primary schools can have very small catchments, so read each school's admissions criteria and its latest Ofsted report before choosing a street for a school.

Parks and open space

Islington's open space is mostly small: Highbury Fields, Caledonian Park with its Victorian clock tower, Whittington Park, Barnsbury Wood, garden squares and the Regent's Canal towpath along the south of the borough. Larger spaces are just outside it: Finsbury Park in Haringey and Hampstead Heath beyond Archway in Camden. If a garden matters to you, ask about it at the start: most flats here don't have one.

Safety

Crime concentrates around the busiest transport hubs and main roads (Angel, Highbury Corner, Holloway Road and Finsbury Park) and the late-night stretches of Upper Street. Residential side streets, including in the same neighbourhoods, are usually quieter. For a specific street, the police's crime map at police.uk shows reported crime month by month.

Who it suits

Islington suits people who work in the City, Clerkenwell, King's Cross or the West End and want a short commute; people who want restaurants, theatre and nightlife on the doorstep; and sharers who can split the rent on a larger flat. It suits people less well if they want outdoor space, a house, or a lower rent in exchange for a longer journey: for those, the boroughs further out on the same lines usually offer more.

Useful links

Islington Council: islington.gov.uk (council tax, parking permits, school admissions)
Crime by street: police.uk
Journeys: tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey
Almeida Theatre: almeida.co.uk

The listings above are homes and rooms advertised by their landlords in Islington now. Many are flats in converted houses, so check the floor, the stairs and whether there is any outdoor space before you arrange a viewing.