Based on 33,333 pest control call-outs with a valid postcode district, attended in the 12 months to September 2026. Bed bugs accounted for 4,752 of those call-outs, and London dominates the national picture.
As featured in The Times. “Why we’ve seen fewer wasps this summer - but more rats, mice and ants” (The Times, 7 August 2026) drew on this data, naming Islington, Whitechapel and Croydon among the UK’s bed bug hotspots.
Bed bugs are London’s pest. Our engineers attended 4,752 bed bug call-outs across the UK in the last 12 months, and the capital’s postcodes fill the top of the table: south-west London (SW) leads on 329 call-outs, with east London (E) on 319, south-east (SE) on 302 and north (N) on 266. No other British city comes close.
Key findings
- Whitechapel and Aldgate (E1) is London’s bed bug capital, with 42 attended call-outs in the 12 months to September 2026, ahead of Croydon (CR0) and Poplar and Canary Wharf (E14) on 41 each (JG Pest Control call-out data).
- South-west London (SW) is the busiest postcode area in the UK for bed bugs, with 329 call-outs in 12 months.
- East Oxford (OX4) is the only district outside Greater London in the UK’s top 15, with 25 call-outs - the other 14 are all in the capital.
- Grouped central London codes hold their own: EC1 logs 28 call-outs, W1 26 and SW1 18.
- Outside London, Birmingham (B, 113) and the Brighton area (BN, 104) lead the country.
The UK’s top 15 bed bug districts
| District | Area | Call-outs (12 months) |
|---|---|---|
| E1 | Whitechapel and Aldgate | 42 |
| CR0 | Croydon | 41 |
| E14 | Poplar and Canary Wharf | 41 |
| N1 | Islington | 40 |
| SW11 | Battersea | 39 |
| N16 | Stoke Newington | 34 |
| E3 | Bow | 33 |
| SW17 | Tooting | 33 |
| E6 | East Ham | 31 |
| W12 | Shepherd’s Bush | 29 |
| NW10 | Willesden and Harlesden | 27 |
| NW6 | Kilburn | 26 |
| SE1 | Southwark and Borough | 26 |
| E2 | Bethnal Green | 25 |
| OX4 | east Oxford (outside London) | 25 |
What the map shows
The pattern is a ring around a busy core. The busiest single districts - Whitechapel (E1), Croydon (CR0), Poplar (E14), Islington (N1) and Battersea (SW11) - form a band of dense, fast-turnover rental housing around the centre. Central London is just as active once its patchwork of micro-districts is read together: on the map we group the lettered codes into their parents, and grouped EC1 (Clerkenwell and the City fringe) logs 28 call-outs, W1 (the West End) 26, SW1 (Westminster and Victoria) 18 and WC1 (Bloomsbury) 15.
East Oxford (OX4) is the only district outside Greater London to break into the UK’s top 15 - a dense student and private-rental quarter, and a reminder that bed bugs follow turnover of people rather than city limits. They spread through luggage, transport and second-hand furniture, so the busiest districts are the best connected ones.
The UK picture
In a hotspot? What to do
Check mattress seams, bed frames and headboards for live insects, shed skins and the tell-tale pepper-like droppings. Bites in lines of three or four along exposed skin are another early sign - our guide to the signs of bed bugs covers what to look for.
If you find them, act fast: a light infestation is dramatically cheaper and quicker to resolve than an established one. We carry out more bed bug heat treatments than any other UK company - one whole-room treatment kills every life stage, including eggs, in a single visit - and our K9 detection dogs can confirm whether an infestation is active before you commit to treatment. For same-day help anywhere in the capital, see our London bed bug treatment service. We are open every day except Christmas Day, early until late.
Comparability. This page moved to a live extract of our job records in September 2026 and now counts only the 16 pest categories we publish. The headline total is therefore not directly comparable with the 39,204 shown on earlier versions of this page, which drew on a wider job set.
Frequently asked questions
In our call-out data for the 12 months to September 2026, E1 (Whitechapel and Aldgate) tops the table with 42 attended bed bug call-outs, followed by CR0 (Croydon) and E14 (Poplar and Canary Wharf) on 41 each and N1 (Islington) on 40.
Density of flats and shared housing, a fast-moving rental market, and heavy commuter and visitor traffic all help bed bugs spread. They travel in luggage, second-hand furniture and clothing, so districts with high turnover of people see more infestations.
No. The hotspot map reflects where treatments are most often needed, not an inevitability. It does mean it pays to check mattress seams and headboards regularly, and to be careful with second-hand furniture and luggage after travel.
Professional treatment is the only reliable route for an established infestation. We carry out more bed bug heat treatments than any other UK company - a single whole-room heat treatment kills adults, nymphs and eggs in one visit, without repeat chemical applications.