Anerley is a decent place to live that is much better at moving you around than at looking after your car. There are nearly a hundred bus stops, a station of its own and fast broadband on almost every street. Crime runs at close to half as much again as the Bromley average, and vehicle crime makes up twice its usual share. About four in ten households have no car at all, and they may have the right idea.
There is plenty of rail nearby. Anerley Rail Station is on the doorstep, Penge West, Penge East, Birkbeck and Crystal Palace are all close enough to argue over, and Norwood Junction is a short bus ride further. The 98 bus stops in and around the area average 296 scheduled departures each on a weekday, about 15 an hour at the peak, and every one of them has a weekend service. At the 2021 Census, 11% of working residents went by train and 10% by bus, though the largest group was the 45% working from home. Gigabit-capable broadband reaches 89% of the area and superfast 98%, and at least one mobile operator covers everywhere with 4G or 5G. The Department for Transport's modelled 2019 journey times put the nearest town centre about ten minutes away by public transport. In the tram era a stationary engine had to haul trams up the steepest stretch of Anerley Hill, and the buses now get up it on their own.
Safety is the weak side. The Metropolitan Police's recorded crime on police.uk puts Anerley at about 129 crimes per 1,000 residents in the year to May 2026, roughly 45% above the Bromley average. The mix matters more than the total. Violence and sexual offences make up 24% of local crime against 35% across England and Wales, while anti-social behaviour accounts for 22% against 16%, and vehicle crime 10% against a national 5%. Most of what pushes the headline up is nuisance and cars. Across the whole Met, someone was charged in about 10% of cases over the same year, against 12% nationally, so a smashed window on Anerley Road usually ends with a crime reference number and nothing more.
Flooding needs two measures kept apart. Under 1% of Anerley falls in the Environment Agency's highest-risk river-and-sea flood zone. On the wider postcode indicators, which include surface water, about 37% of postcodes carry a high rating on at least one measure. River and sea barely come into it here. The trouble, when it comes, comes from heavy rain.
About 42% of households own their home, and the rest are split almost evenly between private and social landlords. The typical resident is 37. The Office for National Statistics models gross household income at about £81,000 a year for the year to March 2023, averaged across the five neighbourhood areas it uses here. In south-east London that buys rather less than it sounds like.
Altering your home is mostly your own business. The area takes in 18 listed buildings, one at Grade I and one at Grade II*, plus eight conservation areas, including Belvedere Road and Penge High Street, so planning gets stricter only on particular streets. Four entries are on Historic England's Heritage at Risk register.
The Land Registry recorded 224 sales in the year to mid-May 2026, at a median of about £419,000. Flats went for around £330,000, terraces for £550,000, and the 25 semis for about £616,000. Most of the gap between a flat and a terrace is the price of a front door you don't share. Council tax is mostly Band C, with 29% of homes in Bands A or B.
The typical private rent across the Bromley area is about £1,670 a month, an Office for National Statistics average for the whole borough, up 3% on a year earlier.
The council-tax valuation list shows a flat-heavy place. Across Anerley and Penge, 67% of homes are flats, 21% terraced, 10% semi-detached and 2% detached, and about half were built before 1930. On energy certificates, 53% rate C or better. About 73% of households heat with mains gas, while 13% rely on electric-only heating, which costs more in a draughty conversion than in anything built this century.
Green space is about 150 metres from the average front door, and water about 480 metres. Betts Park still holds a visible stretch of the old Croydon Canal, which the railway mostly took over. The canal lost that fight early and is still there.
The residents' list is better than the postcode's reputation. Ira Aldridge, the Shakespearean actor, lived at 5 Hamlet Road. George Daniels, who made watches by hand, lived on Thornsett Road, in a suburb where nearly everyone else runs to a timetable.
Anerley works best for people who head out every morning by train, bus or on foot, are happy to rent or buy a flat, and could live without a car. Anyone who wants a big house with a car parked safely outside every night should look deeper into Bromley.
Anerley is an average place to live with excellent ways out of it. It works best for people who use them and never give a thief a parked car to look at.