Balham vs Streatham

Balham and Streatham are both in Zone 3 in south London, a short bus ride apart, and both attract renters looking for better value than Clapham. Balham is the more polished and better-connected of the two, while Streatham is cheaper, greener and more laid-back.

Balham's big advantage is transport. Its station has both the Northern line and Southern trains to Victoria in around ten minutes, giving it a much higher connectivity score than Streatham, which has no tube and relies on Southern and Thameslink trains from three stations and buses to Brixton. Balham also scores higher for nightlife, with busy bars and restaurants along its high road, and it draws a slightly younger, more sociable crowd than Streatham's longer-settled residents.

Streatham scores higher for green space, with Streatham Common, the Rookery and Tooting Bec Common nearby, and one-bed and two-bed flats there usually cost noticeably less. Its long high street is practical and increasingly lively, and its interwar mansion blocks and Edwardian terraces often offer more space for the money.

It mostly comes down to how much the tube is worth to you. Balham's Northern line and ten-minute train to Victoria justify its higher rents for daily commuters and for anyone who wants a busier social life on the high road. Streatham rewards people who can plan around train times or buses with lower rents, more space in its mansion flats and some of the best commons in south London.