Crime and Safety in Sydenham, Lewisham
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
The most common crimes in Sydenham are violence and sexual offences, with 274 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 39. This is 10% higher than 2025's figure of 248 offences and a difference of 3.67 from 2025's crime rate of 35. Sydenham's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 6 offences recorded in 2026, the same as 2025's figure of 6 crimes.
Sydenham 2026 Crime Scorecard
21% higher, borough crime rate
London
56% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Lewisham is 21% higher than London and 56% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Lewisham Crime Rate Over Time
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Sydenham Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Sydenham represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
Use Crime Map
Hover over a point to see a breakdown of crime types recorded at that location. You can also filter by individual crime types, or use a combinations of offences to visualise the data you need.
Introduction to Sydenham's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Sydenham up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Sydenham's 32 postcodes using three area sizes for comparison:
- Within a Five-Minute Walk
- Within a Ten-Minute Walk
- Within a Fifteen-Minute Walk
Individual crime risk scores and index figures are for the 12-month period ending April 2026 unless otherwise stated.
Crime Risk Scores
Sydenham • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Sydenham has a crime risk score of 642. This is based on analysis of 32 nearby areas within Sydenham, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.
Crime risk scores are on a scale of 1 to 1,000 and consider the severity of the crimes involved, as determined by sentencing guidelines. A score of 1 represents the lowest risk, and 1,000 the highest risk. This approach ensures that - unlike overall crime rate figures - bicycle theft is not given the same importance in Sydenham's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Sydenham, crime risk scores are typically around 642, while in Lewisham they are average 624.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 712 (697 for Lewisham), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 758 (Lewisham 752).
Trends in Crime Risk
Sydenham
Calculated via Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess, the Seasonality Adjusted line represents the original data with seasonality subtracted, and the Trend line has been plotted unadjusted. Overall trend direction has been identified using the Mann-Kendall trend test, and rate calculated from the slope of the best-fit line identified from linear regression.
The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 19% in Sydenham's crime risk score. This is potentially a strong signal of how the crime risk is evolving. Cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Sydenham's crime risk score is up by 5.0%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
Over the last year, Sydenham's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 4.3%, indicating that the risk profile is going down. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Sydenham
The CrimeRate Index shows how crime rates compare against the national average.
1.0 equals the average
2.0 is double
3.0 triple
0.5 is half and
0.25 a quarter.
Highest Crime Rates
Sydenham • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Excluding other crime and other theft because their geographic location is often not relevant, anti-social behaviour as its definition is too wide, and bicycle theft for its specificity.
Robbery offences have a crime rate of 5.51 reports per 1,000 people in Sydenham, which is 5.10 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 39 crime reports logged by Metropolitan Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Metropolitan Police recorded 87 reports of Vehicle Crime in Sydenham, resulting in a crime rate of 12 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 2.86.
The crime rate for Theft From the Person is 2.75 times the national average at 3.24 reports per 1,000. This is from 23 crime reports reported to Metropolitan Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Sydenham
Excluding other crime and other theft, anti-social behaviour, and bicycle theft, and calculated with the same STL method described in Trends in Crime Risk, using CrimeRate Index figures to identify crime types that are trending above or below the national average, and the analysis timeframe limited to the last three years.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.27 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.78 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 63% over this timeframe.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 9.90 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 1.56 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 535% over this timeframe.
Theft From the Person offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Sydenham
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.17 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 2.40 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 51% over this timeframe.
Drugs offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.61 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 1.38 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 56% over this timeframe.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.31 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.92 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 42% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Sydenham • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Sydenham | Lewisham | London | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 271 | 38.37 | 2.72 | 7,237 | 23.04 | 1.63 | 235,985 | 21.68 | 1.53 |
| Bicycle Theft | 6 | 0.84 | 2.63 | 316 | 1.00 | 1.37 | 13,695 | 1.26 | 1.73 |
| Burglary | 22 | 3.10 | 1.19 | 1,475 | 4.69 | 1.50 | 47,359 | 4.34 | 1.39 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 46 | 6.51 | 1.13 | 2,021 | 6.44 | 1.03 | 54,098 | 4.99 | 0.79 |
| Drugs | 34 | 4.81 | 1.56 | 1,719 | 5.47 | 1.77 | 53,167 | 4.87 | 1.58 |
| Other Crime | 15 | 2.11 | 1.73 | 442 | 1.41 | 0.76 | 13,008 | 1.19 | 0.64 |
| Other Theft | 78 | 11.04 | 1.94 | 2,473 | 7.87 | 1.38 | 97,452 | 8.97 | 1.58 |
| Possession of Weapons | 9 | 1.26 | 2.63 | 327 | 1.07 | 1.26 | 6,443 | 0.60 | 0.71 |
| Public Order | 53 | 7.50 | 1.29 | 2,222 | 7.08 | 1.22 | 60,049 | 5.52 | 0.95 |
| Robbery | 39 | 5.51 | 5.10 | 1,011 | 3.23 | 2.74 | 30,804 | 2.83 | 2.40 |
| Shoplifting | 106 | 15.00 | 2.10 | 2,614 | 8.33 | 1.17 | 87,976 | 8.09 | 1.13 |
| Theft From the Person | 23 | 3.24 | 2.75 | 1,248 | 3.98 | 2.57 | 77,160 | 7.11 | 4.59 |
| Vehicle Crime | 87 | 12.29 | 2.86 | 2,502 | 7.97 | 1.85 | 81,755 | 7.50 | 1.74 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 274 | 38.80 | 1.28 | 10,720 | 34.15 | 1.12 | 273,434 | 25.12 | 0.83 |
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Total Crime by Year
Sydenham | Lewisham | London | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 792 | 112.01 | 1.62 | 29,090 | 92.69 | 1.29 | 896,400 | 82.39 | 1.14 |
| 2025 | 803 | 114.47 | 1.59 | 29,168 | 93.87 | 1.27 | 896,961 | 83.23 | 1.12 |
| 2024 | 753 | 108.29 | 1.50 | 29,489 | 95.41 | 1.26 | 900,986 | 84.38 | 1.12 |
| 2023 | 720 | 103.21 | 1.42 | 27,475 | 89.26 | 1.13 | 835,471 | 78.98 | 1.00 |
| 2022 | 699 | 100.01 | 1.35 | 26,674 | 86.58 | 1.13 | 795,646 | 75.77 | 0.99 |
| 2021 | 682 | 96.79 | 1.49 | 26,336 | 84.55 | 1.23 | 727,983 | 69.09 | 1.01 |
| 2020 | 695 | 98.01 | 1.38 | 26,844 | 85.59 | 1.15 | 819,467 | 77.66 | 1.05 |
| 2019 | 707 | 97.92 | 1.35 | 26,633 | 85.10 | 1.12 | 849,310 | 80.70 | 1.06 |
| 2018 | 685 | 93.92 | 1.39 | 24,573 | 78.96 | 1.11 | 810,063 | 77.08 | 1.08 |
| 2017 | 625 | 85.69 | 1.41 | 24,331 | 78.79 | 1.23 | 758,160 | 72.41 | 1.13 |
| 2016 | 203 | 27.85 | 1.58 | 7,760 | 25.19 | 1.32 | 234,565 | 22.42 | 1.18 |
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Sydenham Compared to Other Lewisham Neighbourhoods
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Neighbourhood | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perry Vale | 526 | 50.35 | 55% safer |
| Upper Sydenham | 515 | 65.44 | 42% safer |
| Forest Hill | 1,166 | 74.09 | 34% safer |
| Lower Sydenham | 770 | 89.14 | 20% safer |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Crime in Lewisham