The Ford works at Dagenham once employed tens of thousands of people, and the Becontree estate, built between the wars, was the largest council estate in the world. Both still define Barking and Dagenham. Ford makes engines rather than cars now, and most Becontree houses have been bought under Right to Buy, extended and sold on, but the borough remains what it was built to be: a place of working families, modest houses and the cheapest homes in London. The edges are changing fast. Barking Riverside, on the site of the old power station, is adding thousands of homes, Barking town centre is being rebuilt around the Gascoigne estate, and the borough now has one of the youngest and fastest-changing populations in the capital.
Where to find a solicitor
Firms cluster in Barking town centre, around East Street and the station, with others on Dagenham Heathway and in Chadwell Heath. Many residents also use solicitors in Ilford and Romford, a short train ride away.
Courts
Barking's own magistrates' court closed, so criminal cases from the borough now go to Barkingside or Romford for first hearings and to Snaresbrook Crown Court for trial. Civil and possession claims generally go to the county court at Romford, family cases to the East London Family Court and employment claims to the London East tribunal.
What people here need
Housing is the constant. Barking and Dagenham has licensed every private landlord in the borough for a decade, so licensing, disrepair, deposit and possession work is heavy, and council tenants bring damp and mould claims that the new duties on social landlords have strengthened. First-time buyers come from across London for the prices, and conveyancers deal with ex-council houses on the Becontree estate, shared-ownership flats at Barking Riverside and the Gascoigne redevelopment, and new-build leases with estate charges. Employment problems come from the engine plant, the logistics parks at Dagenham Dock, the care sector, the council and the warehouses along the A13, much of it agency and shift work. A young population brings family work, from children's arrangements and domestic abuse injunctions to care proceedings in which the council is a frequent applicant. Wills and probate are often first-generation affairs, for first-generation homeowners.
Fees and legal aid
Few households in Barking and Dagenham can afford open-ended hourly billing, and local firms know it. Conveyancing, wills, powers of attorney and a straightforward divorce are quoted as fixed sums; a dispute is charged by the hour. Legal aid still funds crime, care proceedings, domestic abuse and some housing work, through the borough's remaining contract holders and firms in Ilford and Romford, and home insurance sometimes carries legal expenses cover; the guide to free legal help explains the options. All firms on the site are SRA-regulated, and the featured ones have been through the site's verification as well.
Using this page
Each sector page that follows describes one area of law from the Barking and Dagenham point of view, with the firms that practise it underneath. To find a solicitor near a street, use the Barking and Dagenham search; for the boroughs next door see Redbridge, Newham and Havering, and for the capital as a whole Best Solicitors in London and the borough index.
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