The best place to find your dream home anywhere in London is the East End despite its high crime, according to researchers.

Tower Hamlets appears top of the list of London boroughs for home-buyers where people stay the longest — 53 years on average, according to research by Bequests property website.

Second on the list is neighbouring Hackney, where people stay an average 49 years.

Homes in Tower Hamlets are smaller than elsewhere, an average of 59sq metres, little more than half in somewhere like Richmond or Bromley, the research claims.

East London Advertiser: Canary Wharf... a major factor that attracts home buyers to east London and staying onCanary Wharf... a major factor that attracts home buyers to east London and staying on (Image: Bequests.com)

Yet prices have rocketed since Docklands rejuvenation and Canary Wharf arriving on the skyline. The average house would set you back around £507,000, though not as much as Hackney’s £675,000, Islington at £870,000 or Richmond topping with £922,000.

The crime rate doesn’t put home-seekers off in an area where 100 incidents are recorded per 1,000 of the population.

East London Advertiser: Homebuyers get more schools rated good or outstanding and more GP surgeries than most placesHomebuyers get more schools rated good or outstanding and more GP surgeries than most places (Image: Archant)

What makes Tower Hamlets a grand place are the schools and GP surgeries, researchers found. It has 97 per cent schools rated good or outstanding by Ofsted, more than anywhere else across London - bar Waltham Forest, which can boast the same.

There are 59 surgeries per 100,000 of the population, only surpassed by Hackney with 65.

Tower Hamlets is a good place to invest, according to the Bequests.com survey, where values rose by an overage £234,000 over the past 10 years, outpaced only by Hackney and four other areas.