Commuters on their way to work on London Bridge. Pic- RichTea

More residents leave Lewisham to go to work each weekday than any other borough in London.

According to data from the Office of National Statistics, Lewisham experiences a 27 per cent decrease in workday population as commuters flood out of the borough and into other parts of the city to work each day.

A spokesperson for Lewisham Council described the borough as a “transport harbour.” He said: “We are a largely residential borough, we don’t have many large employers. We have the council, we have the [Lewisham] hospital, and we have the police. Those are the three major employers in the borough. We don’t have the big businesses in the borough.”

Lewisham’s public transport links include 20 railway stations, three Docklands Light Railways stations, and 42 bus routes.  Also 42 per cent of Lewisham residents own a car compared to the London average of 37.5 per cent.

The council was also quick to point out that house prices in Lewisham make the borough more attractive for commuters. The average house price in the borough is £302,235, well below the Greater London average of £457,940, according to the Land Registry.

The council spokesperson said: “It’s a great place to travel to and from and you’re living somewhere largely residential and you’re never too far away from the West End, Canary Wharf, and central London.”

Other boroughs covered by ELL also experience decreases in workday population, with Hackney losing 7.9 per cent and Croydon 19.9 per cent. Tower Hamlets is the only borough to have an increase in workday population, seeing a 57 per cent increase.

Tower Hamlets, with an economy worth of £6 billion and a huge section of the financial sector located in Canary Wharf, provides 30 per cent of all job in east London and has 60,000 more jobs available than there are residents of working age in the borough, according to the borough’s employment strategy.

The largest workday population increase is in Westminster, a borough that increases its population by 266.9 per cent during workdays. Wandsworth is the borough with a decrease closest to Lewisham, at 24.9 per cent.