Living and renting in Bow: travel links, parking, schools, best streets — and the average cost of monthly rent

Great Tube and bus links in Zone 2 east London make affordable Bow convenient.
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With lower rents than its more fashionable neighbours Bethnal Green and Victoria Park village, yet still well within Zone 2 and snaked by transport options, Bow is on the up and manages to hit a sweet spot between edgy and accessible that appeals to a broad mix of people.

With a strongly industrial heritage, this East End neighbourhood was heavily bombed during the Second World War.

As a result, much of the private rental stock in the area is in ex-local authority blocks, with a relatively high proportion of residents still council tenants.

This lends the area a vibrant, multicultural atmosphere, with incomers tending towards the creative side of things living alongside East Enders whose families run generations deep in the area, plus an established Bangladeshi community and a diverse immigrant population.

The lowdown on Bow

The most popular recent development of homes in the area is gated Bow Quarter, on the site of the former Bryant & May factory where the famous match girls’ strike took place in 1888.

There are on-site gardens, concierge, bar, restaurant and gym, while the wider neighbourhood is getting a growing number of new bars, eateries and cultural destinations.

Who lives here? Proximity to Queen Mary University of London means the area is popular with students, while the quirky conversion flats in the Bow Quarter attract actors, artists and other creative professionals, according to Fabian Akinola of property agents Ludlow Thompson.

Parking in Bow

An annual residents’ parking permit in Bow costs from £10 to £186, depending on engine size and CO2 emissions. There is a £25 diesel vehicle surcharge.

Crime in Bow

There are 12 crimes per 1,000 residents in Bow, slightly higher than the London average, with theft, vandalism and harassment most common.

Fitness clubs in Bow

There’s a PureGym at Bow Wharf and an Anytime Fitness off Roman Road. Mile End Park boasts the council-run Mile End Leisure Centre – with a spin studio, female-only gym, swimming pool, outdoor courts and pitches and an athletics stadium – and Mile End Climbing Wall.

Average cost of renting in Bow

Property size Average monthly cost
One-bedroom flat £1,369
Two-bedroom flat £1,678
Two-bedroom house £1,809
Three-bedroom house £2,494
Four-bedroom house £2,786

Best Bow streets to live on

Well-preserved Georgian Tredegar Square with its neat gardens and easy walk to both Mile End Tube and Victoria Park is Bow’s most sought-after place to live, according to Fabian Akinola, lettings manager at the local branch of agents Ludlow Thompson.

Bow travel links and accessibility

Bow benefits from great public transport connections in Zone 2, including the District and Hammersmith & City lines from Bromley-by-Bow and Mile End Tube stations, with the latter also on the Central line.

Plenty of buses serve the area, as well as the Cycle Superhighway 2, which runs down Mile End Road on its way from Stratford to the City.

Best schools in Bow

Old Ford Primary, Bonner Primary, Old Palace Primary, St Agnes Catholic Primary, Phoenix Primary and Secondary School and Beatrice Tate School for pupils with special needs are all rated “outstanding” by Ofsted and there are several more “good” schools in the area.

Supermarkets and food markets in Bow

As well as its historic market, where bargain fruit and veg and international food stalls sit alongside a growing number of artisan bakers and foodie outlets, Roman Road has branches of Tesco Metro and Iceland.

Downsides?

“The promised gentrification hasn’t completely arrived yet,” admits Akinola.

Other agents say you have to accept Bow’s rough edges and that it isn’t the place for you if you can’t actively enjoy the cultural mix it offers.

What the locals say:

‘It’s gentrifying and cycle-friendly’

A combination of affordability and convenience was key for freelance theatre maker, comedian, musician and tutor Claire Parry and her housemates when settling on Bow as the location for their shared home.

Bisected by the busy traffic artery of Mile End Road, the area lacks some of the village feel brought by the kind of smart, independent shops that are increasingly found in gentrifying east London. However, this means Claire, 27, can afford “a lovely spacious house with a garden”.

She adds: “Gentrification is starting to happen. There’s an increasing charm about the area and you see all sorts of different and interesting people. It’s not quite got the yummy mummy vibe, although there are definitely pockets of that in Bow, especially around the period homes of historic Tredegar Square.”

Claire, who is taking her one-woman comedy show about contraception, Intolerable Side Effects, up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this month, pays £530 a month plus bills in the six-bedroom house that she shares with seven housemates.

The immediate neighbourhood isn’t particularly beautiful but the wide open and green spaces of Victoria Park, the Greenway and Regent’s Canal are all easily reached on foot or by bike — Claire’s a keen cyclist.

Shopping in Bow

There is a weekly food market in Victoria Park, while traditional Roman Road Market has foods and clothes at bargain basement prices.

Claire heads to the shopping centre at Stratford to pick up costumes for her shows.

Culture in Bow

“Poplar Union is a really nice little pub that does a Sunday Assembly thing. It has a nice coffee shop to work in as well, just by the canal. They have cinema screenings events,” says Claire.

Eating and drinking in Bow

Bow’s wealth of nice pubs cover all bases for eating and drinking. Claire recommends the Morgan Arms and the Lord Tredegar in particular.

Green space in Bow

Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, a “Magnificent Seven” Victorian cemetery, is a designated nature reserve in several acres of woodland. Connected with Mile End Park by Ackroyd Drive GreenLink, it creates a green corridor through Bow.

The area’s network of canals, creeks and rivers creates extra traffic-free outdoor space.