IN a tree-lined street stunning Georgian townhouses, with four bedrooms and secluded gardens, sell for over £2million.
But just seconds away, on foot, a baby bank helps 20 desperate mums every day – dishing out nappies, baby formula and clothes as families struggle to provide the basics for their children,
Another short walk away, a food bank provides much needed nourishment to 750 families each week – including police officers and nurses.
Hackney now has the second-highest number of children living in poverty according to The English Indices of Deprivation Report 2025.
The borough, which is home to celebrities including Drake and FKA Twigs, has a staggering 64 per cent of children living in income-deprived households.
The average rent for a two-bedroom flat in Hackney is now £2,400. In contrast a two-bed flat in Manchester would cost around £1,500 a month.
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While visiting the East London borough, The Sun encountered a lady who had her bike stolen, after leaving it for less than five minutes, chained up.
The osteopath, who didn’t want to be named, tearily told our reporter that it was her only form of transport and she didn’t know how she would work without it.
Further down the street mum-of-three Jocilina, 33, told The Sun she doesn’t feel safe living in Hackney.
“I’m a single mum of three boys and I don’t feel safe bringing them to the park to play as people snatch things like phones,” she said.
“The parks doesn’t feel safe anymore, and the police don’t do much to help when you report things.”
And it’s not just out and about that care worker Jocilina doesn’t feel safe – it’s in her own home.
She said: “We’re in council housing and it’s a really poor state. I don’t think it’s acceptable for humans, but I’ve struggled to get the council to do anything.
“I have to report things ten to 20 times in order to have someone come out, and often then it’s not fixed.
“I have limited choices already as I’m having to take benefits. I can’t find work that fits around my children being at school. Childcare is too expensive for me to take jobs and pay for that.
“Sometimes I have to ask to borrow money from friends and family. It’s really hard to provide. I used to go to food banks, but I felt so embarrassed at having to go that I stopped.
It’s the hardest it’s ever been in the last few months. The costs of groceries has gone up from like £20 to £45-50 for a handful of things
Zara, mum of one
“£100 or £200 feels like nothing now, even if you shop in Lidl, Aldi, or Iceland things are really expensive.”
In the budget last month, Labour lifted the two child benefit cap, which impacted 10,900 children living in the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency.
That works out as 42 per cent of children living in the area – the highest proportion in the UK.
The lifting of the cap means Jocilina can now claim money for her third child, receiving an extra £240-£300 a month, but she claims that won’t touch the sides.
“I can’t rely on that as it won’t go very far,” she said.
“The cost of food is high, bills are high, and it won’t really make a difference for me because I have bills to pay.
“I want to be back in work, but I can’t afford it with my children. And the changing in the two child cap isn’t going to make that easier for me.
“I’m still looking for work that I can do while the boys are in school.”
Mums across Hackney told The Sun they were struggling with the costs of looking after their children – especially with extra-curricular activities being so expensive.
Shop worker Zara, 35, told The Sun how she had to move her son to a different school because of the prices for after school clubs.
“At the first primary school I was paying £173 for after-school clubs that were only two days a week,” she said.
“I couldn’t afford that. When I moved him to a different school, I pay £68 for a lot more after school activities for him.”
‘Getting help is begging’
And she says other mums at work are struggling in the cost of living crisis.
“Mum’s who come into the store tell me they are struggling to feed and provide clothes for their kids,” single mum Zara said.
“They’re struggling to cover the costs of after-school activities and give their kids a good quality of life.
“It’s the hardest it’s ever been in the last few months. The costs of groceries has gone up from like £20 to £45-50 for a handful of things.
We have six food banks in the borough and we have two open in the evening because we’re seeing a lot of working poor need our help.
Jenna Fansa, Hackney Food Bank
“I often signpost many people to Kingsmead Community Kitchen, where they can get cheaper food for their family.
“But a lot of people don’t want to go to a food bank because they feel like they’re having to beg.
“I’m working, and I’m finding things tough myself. I do tell people about help from Hackney Council, but the council itself doesn’t promote the help for people.
“And it’s first come, first served, which isn’t enough for the community here in my opinion.”
Hackney Council dispute this claim, saying their Here to Help team helps hundreds of families every week and that they have opened four children and family hubs in the borough.
Rich newbies forcing prices up
In order to be able to work in the summer holidays, Zara shells out £33 a day to send her son to sports camps as it’s the cheapest way to ensure her son is cared for.
But she noted that many parents won’t have the cash to afford that, which stops many from being able to work.
Zara has lived in Hackney since she was three years old and has seen the community massively change.
She said: “A lot of us who have lived in Hackney have seen everything change thanks to the new people who have moved into the area.
“The people who are buying these expensive houses are driving the prices in the area up and alienating us locals.
People are put into housing association properties by the local authorities and then everybody walks away
Bob, reitred finance operations manager
“The shops are changing to cater to their wants, meaning we have organic stores, M&S, and it’s all higher prices.
“It’s pricing ordinary people out of Hackney. It’s also eroding the sense of community.”
Houses for sale in the area are listing for more than £3m and often new build flats have very few affordable dwellings included.
Retired finance operations manager Bob, 79, told The Sun that his 300 flat block has less than ten social housing units.
He said: “Hackney is very middle class and I personally don’t see much poverty in Clapton. I guess it’s been gentrified, and I guess I’ve contributed to that. I moved here six or seven years ago.
“I’m quite surprised that it’s been ranked 2nd in the country for child poverty.”
After a few minutes of chatting, he realised that he was aware of many issues facing people on lower incomes as his wife is a retired social worker.
He said: “The provision for youth has been drastically cut back over 10 or 15 years, and that shows. I feel really sorry for the kids, they can be a bloody nuisance but equally there’s little for them to do.
“The level of support for troubled families has gone down. People are put into house association properties by the local authorities and then everybody walks away. Whatever happens there that may cause problems, I see as the lack of support they get.
“They’re people that do need support because that’s how they’ve ended up in that situation.
“Thinking about it, I do see some deprivation, but it’s a minority for me.”
‘Can’t afford to rent privately’
Fellow hackney local Karen, 62, has lived in the borough her entire life and says members of her family have had to move away because they can no longer afford to live in Hackney.
“It’s got harder to be able to afford to live here. Money doesn’t go as far, and being able to go out for anything.
“Housing here has got absolutely ridiculous. My daughter is a single mum with a good job, and she’s living in her nan’s old flat after caring for her until she died and the council are refusing to help her with housing.
“They want her to rent privately but she can’t afford to do that with the cost of childcare and bills.
“My other daughter had to move out to Braintree in Essex to afford to be able to bring up her family. She couldn’t find anywhere to live here.
“Hackney council needs to provide more affordable housing and offer it to people. Currently they just tell everyone to rent privately which is ridiculously expensive.
“If you don’t come from money, it’s really hard to live in this area.”
Foodbank users rising
There are provisions to help people struggling in the area but many are becoming overwhelmed with requests for help.
Hackney Food bank, run by the Trussell Trust which is part of The Sun’s Christmas campaign, has seen demand for their food parcels surge in recent years.
Fundraising manager Jenna Fansa told how their demand was up 19 per cent on last year and that they are feeding hundreds of children each month.
“We’re currently feeding around 650 households a week, and we provide food for 590 different children a month,” she said.
“Pre-pandemic, we maybe saw 89 children each month. It just shows how much need has gone up in Hackney.
“We give out £50,000 worth of food every single month, and we have to raise more than £1.5million to cover our costs to meet the need we are seeing.
“The average rent in the area for a two bed flat is £2,400 a month and we’re seeing people on a nurse’s salary and single parents who aren’t earning enough to cover that and provide food.
“We have six food banks in the borough and we have two open in the evening because we’re seeing a lot of working poor need our help. They’re often working and sometimes getting some kind of benefit, and it’s not enough to cover the basics.
“A lot of people who come to us are working multiple jobs, or they’re key workers like police, nurses, and teachers.
“It’s been the perfect storm for people since covid with the cost of living crisis and being able to meet demand has become harder.”
Round the corner Hackney Children and Baby Bank is seeing desperate hardworking mums come to them for helping with everything from baby formula to prams and clothing for their little ones.
Centre founder Beautine Wester, a paediatric nurse, said: “We constantly hear heartbreaking stories from the mums who come through our doors.
“It’s people who are working, teachers, police officers, and they feel embarrassed because they can’t afford to wash their clothes or get all the new things everyone has for their babies.
“When you’re on the breadline you’re constantly trying to work out where you can save. That’s where we come in to help with the essentials.
“The greatest crisis we see is the cost of rent in Hackney. Mums are left with barely anything from their pay to cover bills let alone their kids.”
The team provides toys for children up to age 14 as well as clothes and they even offer some outfit options for parents who are struggling to afford their own clothes.
They currently see between 50 and 60 families each week who desperately need help – often they help signpost the women to food banks as well.
“I’ve had mums tell me they go down to Dalston Market at five or six in the morning to pick up the fruit that has fallen from the stalls because they’re desperate to give their kids fresh fruit,” Beautine, 67, added.
“We hope that one day people won’t need our help, but as long as they do we will be here.”
Hackney Council disputes the charge it doesn’t provide enough social housing, saying: “Hackney has one of the most ambitious programmes of new social housing in the country. We are currently delivering more than 950 new homes for social rent, and our planning policies require 50 per cent of homes in new developments to be affordable. “
On the poor state of social housing in the borough, the council pointed out that they have an “aging stock of homes and receive around 80,000 repair requests a year which we consistently respond to as quickly as possible.”
Over the next ten years they are investing £550 million in a capital repairs programme – including replacement lifts, fire doors and lighting – and say that since 2022 they have seen “improved tenant satisfaction and quicker inspections of reports of damp and mould.”
The Mayor of Hackney, Caroline Woodley said: “After more than a decade of austerity, we now have a government with a clear plan to reverse child poverty, and we will work with them to give each child in Hackney the best start in life.
“The high level of child deprivation in Hackney is a direct result of the housing crisis, with high housing costs pushing too many families below the poverty line.
“We are tackling these challenges head on – delivering an ambitious programme of new social housing while investing in vital improvements to our current housing stock.”
The Metropolitan Police have been contacted for comment
