Guide to Forest Gate

In 2024, Forest Gate came fourth on The Times’  list of the top 25 places to buy a house in London.

While the paper praised the E7 neighbourhood for its “railway-arch restaurants and cafes”, it’s also the Elizabeth Line station, with its fast connection into central London and beyond to Heathrow Airport, that has many young professionals, families, landlords and property developers taking a close look at the area.

Bordered by the green fields of Wanstead Flats and the lush forest and ornamental lakes of Wanstead Park, and with a thriving high street, Forest Gate is a rare jewel. It has a family neighbourhood feel, but with plenty of excitement going on. Great places to eat and drink include The Wanstead Tap (under the railway arches) and The Golden Fleece (on the edge of the Flats).

The local properties are mostly Victorian houses, from cottages to large family homes. The most sought-after areas are: The Lanes, a group of streets leading north off Forest Lane and just west of Forest Gate station; the Woodgrange Estate Conservation Area, made up of Hampton, Osborne, Claremont and Windsor roads, in a grid to the east of Woodgrange Road; and another grid of streets running south from Wanstead Flats and Capel Road, known as Forest Gate Village.