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What it's like to live in Longlands

Day to day, life here is practical. Morrisons and a Co-op Food are both under a mile, with Sainsbury's and Lidl a little further out. Roadnight Pharmacy is the closest chemist, and Boots, Aspire and Osborn pharmacies are all around three quarters of a mile away.

The wider Bexley area skews slightly younger than England as a whole, with 20.5% under 16 against 18.6% nationally, and fewer pensioners. You notice that in Longlands: buggies, school runs and busy weekday mornings. It is not a place with a big going-out scene, but church halls, a youth centre and local clubs keep things ticking along.

Getting around

Trains are the strength here. Sidcup station is about 0.7 miles away and New Eltham station roughly 0.9 miles, both on lines running towards central London. Albany Park, Mottingham and Falconwood are all within two miles, so you have real choice if one line is disrupted. For many households that makes commuting workable without a car.

Buses serve the local roads and Eltham Station bus station, about 2.3 miles away, is the nearest proper interchange for wider routes. Check the specific stops near any home you are considering, as frequency varies street by street.

By car, you are in comfortable reach of Eltham, Chislehurst, Bexleyheath and the wider south-east London road network, though parking and traffic at peak times are the usual London headaches. On foot, the area is flat and walkable for everyday errands, with shops, parks and schools clustered within a mile or so. Many people here mix all three: walk locally, train into town, drive at weekends.

Schools and family life

For families, the school choice is one of Longlands' strongest cards. Longlands Primary School is roughly 0.1 miles away, with Dulverton Primary at 0.5 miles and Holy Trinity Lamorbey Church of England Primary at 0.7 miles. Benedict House Preparatory School and West Lodge School are also close by for those looking at independent options.

Secondary options within a mile include Marlborough School, Chislehurst School for Girls, Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School and Marjorie McClure School, with Christ the King St Mary's Sixth Form College nearby too. Always check current admission rules and catchments before you count on a place.

Outside school, Old Farm Park is the closest green space at 0.3 miles, with Belmont Lane Open Space, Lamorbey Park, Willersley Park and Waring Park all within a mile. Sidcup Library and New Eltham Library are both about 0.8 miles away, and Sidcup Youth Centre and local church halls run community activities.

Things to do

This is a suburb, so entertainment is low-key and local rather than flashy. The Library and Sidcup Storyteller Cinema is about 0.7 miles away for films close to home, with a Vue cinema roughly 1.9 miles out for the bigger releases.

For a drink, Sidcup Working Men's and Social Club is the nearest at 0.3 miles, and Hill Top Tap, The Club House, The Hackney Carriage and Ye Olde Black Horse are all within about 0.6 miles. Nightlife proper is thin on the ground, with Pure Lounge Club nearly three miles away, so a night out usually means heading into London or Bexleyheath.

Fitness choices are decent. The Pilates Space and Make A Difference are both around 0.2 miles, with Nuffield Health Fitness and Wellbeing at 0.6 miles and a Better Gym at 0.8 miles. For shopping trips, Eltham Arcade is 1.8 miles away and the Broadway Shopping Centre around three miles.

Work and the local economy

Longlands works well as a commuter base. With five stations within two miles, plenty of residents travel into central London or along the south-east London corridor for work, and that shapes the weekday feel of the place.

Locally, the big employer presence comes from health and education. Queen Mary's Hospital is just over a mile away, Eltham Community Hospital about 1.9 miles, and the cluster of schools and colleges nearby adds jobs too. Shops, supermarkets, gyms and pharmacies in Sidcup and New Eltham provide the usual retail and service roles.

The wider Bexley figures look solid. In the 2021 Census, 60.2% of adults in the borough were in work, above the England figure of 57.4%, with unemployment at 3.8% against 3.5% nationally. By August 2026, 3.4% of 16 to 64 year olds in Bexley were claiming unemployment-related benefits, below the England rate of 4%.

Housing and who lives here

Longlands is mostly a home-owning area. Across Bexley, 68.6% of homes are owned outright or with a mortgage, 15.3% are privately rented and 14.7% are social rented, which is below the England figure of 17.1%. Social housing here leans heavily towards housing associations, at 12.1% of homes, with council stock making up just 2.6%.

That means your neighbours in a social tenancy are most likely housing association tenants. The largest landlords in the borough are London and Quadrant with around 5,044 homes, Orbit with 3,965, Peabody with 2,859, then Hyde with 644 and Moat with 625.

Average weekly social rents in Bexley for 2024/25 were about £111 for a one bed, £130 for two beds and £156 for three beds. Supply is tight: 1,640 households were on the council's housing register at 31 March 2025 and 371 social homes were let through the council in 2024-25, which is one reason a mutual exchange is often the realistic route in.

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