London Borough of Harrow - Demographics

Demographics

The presence of Harrow School on the main 'hill' of Harrow has preserved the myth that it is an affluent, leafy area (recent house price averages on the hill were £1,500,000), but the affluence of the hill is now surrounded by typical north-west London suburbia of semi-detached houses and flats.

Some may consider it affluent in comparison to other similar areas of London but more recent studies are proving that there is increasing poverty. Crime figures are low; the borough had 2,618 notifiable offences in April 2009, compared with an average of 2,204 across London's boroughs. Harrow Council is focusing regeneration efforts on areas such as Wealdstone and South Harrow and many new 'key service workers'-type flats are springing up. In the north part of the borough, there is a greenbelt strip of highly affluent housing in the areas of Northwood, Pinner and Stanmore. Its site on and near the greenbelt and ease of access to central London (20 minutes by train to Marylebone and 12 minutes to Euston via London Midland) makes Harrow a good place to live not only for families but affluent singles as well. Rising property prices in all London areas have helped to see a large increase in property redevelopment of its existing Edwardian and 1920s to 1940s housing stock, which in turn is attracting new residents looking for a clean, safe, and relatively green environment to live in, close to central London.

Harrow is considered a borough of "contrasts", with high levels of affluence in such areas Harrow-on-the-Hill, Pinner, and Stanmore and high levels of deprivation in Wealdstone. Save the Children reported in 2011 that over 7,000 children are living in poverty in the Borough.

Harrow is a diverse borough, having 63.8% of its population from the BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) communities, with the largest group being of Indian ethnicity.(Specifically those from Gujarat and South India.) The borough can also claim to have the largest concentration of Sri Lankan Tamils in the UK and Ireland (North Harrow, South Harrow, Rayners Lane) as well as having the highest density of Gujarati Hindus in the UK. Since 2005, on the last Sunday in June Harrow Council hosts Under One Sky - Harrow's largest festival, to celebrate and the joint communities of Harrow. This has a programme of dance, world music, sports activity, youth music, spoken word, free children's activity, a carnival parade, information and stalls, health promotion, a world food zone and outside radio broadcast. Harrow is the most religiously diverse local authority area in the UK, with a 62% chance that two random people are from different religions, according to Office of National Statistics, Oct 2006. National Statistics. Retrieved 5 June 2006. A large number of Jewish people live in Stanmore and Hatch End. The Stanmore and Canons Park Synagogue boasts the largest membership of any single synagogue in the whole of Europe.

According to the 2001 Census, approximately 16% of Harrow identified as non-religious, or chose not to state their faith.