Flats to Rent in Southwark

Renting in Southwark

Southwark runs south from the Thames at Bankside and London Bridge to Dulwich and the edge of Crystal Palace, so one borough covers Zone 1 riverside flats and Zone 2 and 3 family streets. On the ONS measure in the table above, its average rent is above the London average but well below the central boroughs across the river. Council tax is close to average: Band D is £1,967.26 in 2026/27, against a London average of £2,068 (MHCLG), and most flats are in bands A to D.

The biggest divide is transport. The north of the borough has the Jubilee and Northern lines; most of the south has no Underground at all and relies on trains and buses.

The neighbourhoods

Borough, Bankside and London Bridge

The riverside strip holds Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral, Shakespeare's Globe, Tate Modern in the former Bankside power station, and the Shard above London Bridge station. London Bridge has the Jubilee and Northern lines and Thameslink, Southern and Southeastern trains; Borough (Northern) and Southwark (Jubilee) stations are close by. Few places in London have a faster commute to the City. The streets behind Bankside are residential, but market days and summer evenings bring crowds and noise, so visit at the times you would be at home before you commit.

Bermondsey

Bermondsey Street has independent restaurants, the Fashion and Textile Museum and White Cube's Bermondsey gallery. Under the railway arches to the south-east are the breweries and taprooms known as the Bermondsey Beer Mile, and the weekend food stalls of Maltby Street. Much of the rental stock is converted warehouses and newer flats. Bermondsey station is on the Jubilee line. The arches mean some streets have trains running directly past their windows.

Canada Water and Rotherhithe

Canada Water is being rebuilt around its lake and the former shopping centre in a large British Land scheme of homes, offices and shops, delivered in phases, so parts of the area will be building sites for years. Canada Water station has the Jubilee line and the Overground's Windrush line. Rotherhithe, on the river to the north, is older and quieter, with converted warehouses and the Brunel Museum by the Thames Tunnel, the first tunnel built under a navigable river, which the Overground still uses.

Elephant and Castle

Elephant and Castle is in the middle of a long regeneration. The Heygate Estate, which had more than a thousand council homes, was demolished and replaced by Lendlease's Elephant Park, and the old shopping centre has been knocked down for a new town centre; both schemes have been controversial for the amount of social housing lost. Transport is strong: the Northern and Bakerloo lines and Thameslink trains. Most rental homes here are in new blocks, with modern fittings and service charges to match.

Peckham

Peckham centres on Rye Lane, a busy high street of African and Caribbean grocers, market stalls and newer bars and restaurants, with Peckham Rye park and common at its southern end. Peckham Library, with its green copper cladding, won the Stirling Prize in 2000. There is no Underground: Peckham Rye station has Southern, Southeastern and Thameslink trains and the Overground, and Queens Road Peckham has the Overground and Southern. Rents have risen sharply as the area became fashionable, and the change is a real source of tension with long-standing residents.

Camberwell

Camberwell has Camberwell College of Arts, King's College Hospital on Denmark Hill, Georgian squares off Camberwell Grove, and Burgess Park, the borough's largest. Its drawback is transport: no Underground station, with Denmark Hill station (Overground, Southeastern and Thameslink) on its southern edge and buses for everything else. A Bakerloo line extension through Camberwell has been proposed for years but has not been built.

Dulwich and East Dulwich

Dulwich Village is centred on Dulwich College, founded by Edward Alleyn in 1619, Dulwich Park and Dulwich Picture Gallery, designed by Sir John Soane and England's first purpose-built public art gallery. East Dulwich's Lordship Lane is one of south London's strongest independent high streets. Family houses are the main draw, and they are in demand. There is no Underground: East Dulwich and North Dulwich stations run to London Bridge, and West Dulwich to Victoria.

Nunhead

Nunhead is a quiet area of Victorian terraces around Nunhead Cemetery, one of London's seven great Victorian cemeteries, which is now a wooded nature reserve with a view of St Paul's from its highest point. Nunhead station has trains towards central London. It has fewer shops and restaurants than East Dulwich or Peckham, and usually lower rents.

Getting around

North of the Old Kent Road, Southwark is one of the best-connected parts of London: the Jubilee line from Southwark, London Bridge, Bermondsey and Canada Water runs to Westminster, Waterloo and Canary Wharf; the Northern line from Borough, London Bridge and Elephant and Castle runs to Bank and King's Cross. South of it, commuting is by National Rail and the Overground to London Bridge, Victoria and Blackfriars, and by bus, and journey times depend heavily on which station you live near. Check a specific commute on the TfL Journey Planner before you sign.

Schools

State secondaries include the Charter School East Dulwich, Kingsdale Foundation School in West Dulwich, St Saviour's and St Olave's (girls) near Borough, and several academies. The borough also has well-known independent schools in Dulwich: Dulwich College, James Allen's Girls' School and Alleyn's. Faith, selective and independent schools do not admit on distance alone, and popular state schools can have very small distance catchments, so read each school's admissions criteria and its latest Ofsted report before choosing a street for a school.

Parks

Burgess Park in Camberwell is the largest, with a lake, sports pitches and a café. Peckham Rye park and common, Dulwich Park with its boating lake, Belair Park in West Dulwich and Nunhead Cemetery give the south of the borough far more green space than the north, where the Thames Path and small squares are most of what there is.

Safety

Crime varies street by street. It concentrates around the busiest transport hubs and high streets (London Bridge and Borough Market, Elephant and Castle, parts of Rye Lane and Camberwell Green), while the residential streets of Dulwich, Nunhead and much of Bermondsey are quieter. For a specific street, the police's crime map at police.uk shows reported crime month by month.

Who it suits

Southwark suits City and Canary Wharf workers who want a short commute from Bankside, Bermondsey or Canada Water; renters who want a busy, mixed south London high street in Peckham or Camberwell; and families who want parks and houses in Dulwich and will commute by train. It suits people less well if they need the Underground and want to live in the south of the borough, where there is none.

Useful links

Southwark Council: southwark.gov.uk (council tax, parking permits, school admissions)
Crime by street: police.uk
Journeys: tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey
Dulwich Picture Gallery: dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

The listings above are homes and rooms advertised by their landlords in the borough now. Each listing shows its address area, so you can check the nearest station and street before you get in touch.