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Original poster

What do you think of as “London”?

303 replies

CruCru · 02/02/2025 14:42

On another thread I got into a discussion on which places are London and which are actually somewhere else. I think that only places with a London postcode are in London, otherwise they are in the Home Counties. However, quite a few people disagreed with me as they said that they lived in an outer London borough. I didn’t want to derail that thread (which was about something else) so thought I’d start my own.

To my way of thinking, if I sent a letter addressed to someone at 123 Their Street, London, Their postcode, it would only be sensible to do so if they actually live in London. If I did that for someone who lives in Harrow, Croydon or Kingston, doing so would cause confusion (but it might still arrive if the postcode was correct).

What do you think?

OP posts:
StormingNorman · 02/02/2025 15:36

London postcodes are London. Bromley is Kent, Harrow is Middlesex etc.

Westfacing · 02/02/2025 15:38

Hotmess101 · 02/02/2025 15:21

@Wemaybebetterstrangers yeah forget the actual facts then 😂 doubt many people want an Airbnb in Elephant and Castle or Thamesmead so they’re not in London anymore I guess 🙃

The Elephant is very central and can't be compared to Thamesmead!

Comedycook · 02/02/2025 15:39

StormingNorman · 02/02/2025 15:36

London postcodes are London. Bromley is Kent, Harrow is Middlesex etc.

Yes but Bromley is a London borough

SocksShmocks · 02/02/2025 15:39

shuggles · 02/02/2025 15:35

@CruCru What do you think of as “London”?

Rich people who are out of touch with normal people and normal salaries.

There’s lots of deprivation in London. Yes some people are very wealthy but by no means all. Think of Grenfell - those people were not rich or privileged. If they had been they’d still be with us.

Despite what you might have heard the streets are not paved in gold …

ViolinsPlayGentlyOn · 02/02/2025 15:39

EdithStourton · 02/02/2025 15:33

Anywhere inside the M25, but with outposts in eg Chelmsford and Guildford.

How are you classing Guildford as London? It’s not even vaguely London

SemperIdem · 02/02/2025 15:40

Plaided · 02/02/2025 14:58

Absolutely no scientific basis whatsoever, but this is what I would class as London proper (inside the red line). I don’t think of Croydon as London, it’s a proper town in itself (yes it’s technically a London Borough, but so it Sutton and that’s pure suburbia).

This is also what I think of as being London.

FuckedOverByBuilder · 02/02/2025 15:45

I grew up in a suburb of Croydon and currently live in Sutton

I've never considered myself as living 'in London' 😂

But I probably follow the logic that where there is a compass postcode, more 'inner London', that is true London

I should add that my cousins in Oxford and Derby all consider where I live to be 'London'

EasternStandard · 02/02/2025 15:45

The red circle in pp looks about right

frecklejuice · 02/02/2025 15:49

I live in Chislehurst which is in the London Borough of Bromley, we are covered by the Met police, TFL and London Fire Brigade but apparently we are also in Kent!

boys3 · 02/02/2025 15:59

Plaided · 02/02/2025 14:58

Absolutely no scientific basis whatsoever, but this is what I would class as London proper (inside the red line). I don’t think of Croydon as London, it’s a proper town in itself (yes it’s technically a London Borough, but so it Sutton and that’s pure suburbia).

Now this made me smile. Though the seepage in Enfield is a worry. Plus what is that tiny bit of Richmond that has crept inside the proper London line?

Comedycook · 02/02/2025 16:05

frecklejuice · 02/02/2025 15:49

I live in Chislehurst which is in the London Borough of Bromley, we are covered by the Met police, TFL and London Fire Brigade but apparently we are also in Kent!

I'd say Chislehurst is definitely London.

EverythingElseIsTaken · 02/02/2025 16:10

Well according to Sadiq Khan I live in London. He takes money from my council tax payments, I live inside the ULEZ but I don’t have access to a tube station, buses are erratic. I certainly can’t use public transport to get to work although it is in the same London Borough.
I don’t consider myself a Londoner but I have to pay as if I am….

MelisandeLongfield · 02/02/2025 16:10

I'm oop north and I think of London as being anywhere that has a Tube/Elizabeth Line/DLR station.

ohtowinthelottery · 02/02/2025 16:11

Anywhere in the South East - in the same way as anything north of Watford is considered as being up north!

RatedDoingMagic · 02/02/2025 16:14

4 factors that make somewhere irrefutably London:

A London postcode starting with a compass point
Being a borough that votes for the London Mayor
Being within the M25
Having a phone number that starts 0208 or 0207

You don't have to have all 4 but if you have at least 3 of these you are definitely London, and probably London with 2 of these. It's possible to just have 1 and not be London though.

abnerbrownsdressinggown · 02/02/2025 16:17

MelisandeLongfield · 02/02/2025 16:10

I'm oop north and I think of London as being anywhere that has a Tube/Elizabeth Line/DLR station.

Reading is on the Elizabeth Line and that is about as much in London as Guildford is!

Wigtopia · 02/02/2025 16:18

A quick google will confirm both Kingston and Croydon have been London since 1965

wipeywipe · 02/02/2025 16:19

Well I count z3 as suburbs (I live there). Places like Croydon and Kingston are in London now and have been for some while.

The postcode thing, not sure. Does Mitcham have a London postcode? Someone I know who lives there classes it as Surrey but I think it's definitely London.

wipeywipe · 02/02/2025 16:19

I would class Sutton as Lpndon but not places like Caterham.

wipeywipe · 02/02/2025 16:21

but so it Sutton and that’s pure suburbia).'

I don't understand this point & how it's different to parts of z3 I know?

wipeywipe · 02/02/2025 16:22

Upper Norwood is in Croydon borough..

StormingNorman · 02/02/2025 16:27

Comedycook · 02/02/2025 15:39

Yes but Bromley is a London borough

Show quote history

It wasn’t always and it still doesn’t feel like London.

RatedDoingMagic · 02/02/2025 16:27

MelisandeLongfield · 02/02/2025 16:10

I'm oop north and I think of London as being anywhere that has a Tube/Elizabeth Line/DLR station.

Amersham has a tube station and is very much Home Counties and no more Londony than Milton Keynes.

wipeywipe · 02/02/2025 16:27

London anywhere you get free school meals at primary.!

wipeywipe · 02/02/2025 16:29

A good rule of thumb way to look at it is if a person wants to go to ‘London’ for a weekend, where is acceptable? Travelling from Italy for a weekend - they def don’t want an air BnB in Croydon or Sutton or Neasden, for example..

There's plenty of places further in that you wouldn't want either. You would what to be z1 really