London is made up of 32 boroughs, and each has their own unique charms and quirks.
One that’s often seen as quite controversial is Havering, and there are a couple of reasons for this.
The first is that the area is suffering from a long-standing identity crisis. For years, it was part of Essex County, but in 1965 the Municipal Borough of Romford and the Hornchurch Urban District were transferred to the Greater London Authority, creating the London Borough of Havering.
It’s been decades, but people still can’t stop debating whether it should be part of London or Essex.
The second reason is that the East London borough is known for making rather divisive political decisions.
In 2016, it was named as the most Eurosceptic area of London when it came time to vote for Brexit, and in May 2026, Havering Council became the first UK council controlled by Reform UK.
The council has since caused a stir by banning Pride flags from public buildings, and rescinding the town hall’s ‘climate emergency’ declaration to try and save money.
Despite this, the area was recently named one of the most peaceful places to live in London, as part of research carried out by property specialists SAM Conveyancing.
However, given what locals have been saying about the area lately, this accolade might come as a bit of a shock.
Those who live in the borough have recently slammed it as ‘a s***e hole’, ‘the worst’, and ‘really awful’.
These comments were made online in response to a post in the Hornchurch & Havering Community Group on Facebook, where locals were asked if they’d recommend living in Havering.
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Trevor Savill declared that the area ‘used to be excellent’, but was now ‘s***e’.
As Roni O’Brien wrote: ‘Romford is really awful, especially around the station; it doesn’t feel safe.’
‘S***e hole due to the council,’ claimed Paul Albon.
Over on TikTok, people have also shared similar sentiments, in particular about Romford, a town within the borough.
@harry_90_84, agreed, saying: ‘It’s unrecognisable now. Miss the old Romford. Dump now sadly.’
While @cdwillis1979 reminisced about living in Romford as a child, sharing: ‘What a place to grow up, clean and tidy, bright and colourful as a kid! Now even on a summer’s day the place looks grey and miserable! Heartbreaking.’
And @somecallmeolu thought the borough felt ‘pretty empty’ these days.
Geoff Kirby claimed Romford was a ‘nice place’ in the 80s and 90s, as @skooma68 commented: ‘Grew up here, it’s unrecognisable now.’
A TikToker known as @theplatform15 shared a selection of images of ‘Romford of yesterday’, which was a look down memory lane.
People were quick to reminisce about the ‘good old days’, with Helen South responding: ‘I spent most of my childhood at the Dolphin Swimming Pool. Great memories.
Similarly, @barbara6156 posted: ‘This brought back fond memories of Romford. Loved shopping there.’
As @brick_foot added: ‘Dolphin was iconic; look how good (clean) the roundabout and Sainsbury’s look compared to what it is today. Used to be a lovely place.’
Others shared love for Havering more generally, with @stickzino hailing it ‘East London’s finest’, and @tanksandstuff claiming it’s the ‘best borough in east London’.
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