020 Area Code - Area Codes UK

London phone numbers

020 numbers are for London, including all of central London and the majority of the outer London boroughs.

The boundary of the 020 area code does not follow the Greater London boundary. Several areas outside Greater London use 020 numbers while the outer parts of some London boroughs use their own area codes instead of 020 numbers.

List of areas using 020 area code…

Greater London

Abbey Wood
Acton
Addington
Addiscombe
Aldborough Hatch
Aldgate
Aldwych
Alperton
Anerley
Angel
Archway
Arkley
Arnos Grove
Balham
Bankside
Barbican
Barking
Barkingside
Barnes
Barnet
Barnsbury
Battersea
Bayswater
Beckenham
Beckton
Becontree Heath
Becontree
Beddington
Bedford Park
Belgravia
Bellingham
Belmont
Belmont
Belsize Park
Belvedere
Bermondsey
Berrylands
Bethnal Green
Bexley
Bexleyheath
Bickley
Blackfen
Blackfriars
Blackheath
Blackwall
Bloomsbury
Botany Bay
Bounds Green
Bow
Bowes Park
Brent Cross
Brent Park
Brentford
Brimsdown
Brixton
Brockley
Bromley Common
Bromley
Bromley-by-Bow
Brompton
Brondesbury
Brunswick Park
Bulls Cross
Burnt Oak
Camberwell
Cambridge Heath
Camden Town
Canary Wharf
Cann Hall
Canning Town
Canonbury
Carshalton
Castelnau
Catford
Chadwell Heath
Chalk Farm
Charing Cross
Charlton
Cheam
Chelsea
Chessington
Childs Hill
Chinatown
Chingford
Chislehurst
Chiswick
Church End
Church End
Clapham
Clerkenwell
Cockfosters
Colindale
Colliers Wood
Colney Hatch
Coney Hall
Coombe
Coombe
Coulsdon
Covent Garden
Cranford
Creekmouth
Crews Hill
Cricklewood
Crofton Park
Crook Log
Crossness
Crouch End
Croydon
Crystal Palace
Cubitt Town
Custom House
Dagenham
Dalston
Dartmouth Park
De Beauvoir Town
Denmark Hill
Deptford
Dollis Hill
Downham
Dulwich
Ealing
Earls Court
Earlsfield
East Barnet
East Bedfont
East Dulwich
East Finchley
East Ham
East Sheen
Eastcote
Eden Park
Edgware
Edmonton
Eel Pie Island
Elephant and Castle
Elmers End
Elmstead
Eltham
Enfield Highway
Enfield Town
Enfield Wash
Falconwood
Farringdon
Feltham
Finchley
Finsbury Park
Finsbury
Fitzrovia
Foots Cray
Forest Gate
Forest Hill
Forestdale
Fortis Green
Freezywater
Friern Barnet
Frognal
Fulham
Fulwell
Gants Hill
Gipsy Hill
Golders Green
Goodmayes
Gospel Oak
Grahame Park
Grange Park
Greenford
Greenwich
Grove Park
Gunnersbury
Hackney Marshes
Hackney Wick
Hackney
Hadley Wood
Haggerston
Hainault
Ham
Hammersmith
Hampstead Garden Suburb
Hampstead
Hampton Hill
Hampton Wick
Hampton
Hanwell
Hanworth
Harlesden
Harlington
Harmondsworth
Harringay
Harrow on the Hill
Harrow Weald
Harrow
Hatch End
Hatton
Hayes
Hayes
Hendon
Herne Hill
Heston
Highams Park
Highbury
Highgate
Hillingdon
Hither Green
Holborn
Holland Park
Holloway
Homerton
Honor Oak
Hook
Hornsey
Hounslow
Hoxton
Ilford
Isle of Dogs
Isleworth
Islington
Kenley
Kennington
Kensal Green
Kensington
Kentish Town
Kenton
Kew
Kidbrooke
Kilburn
King’s Cross
Kingsbury
Kingston upon Thames
Kingston Vale
Knightsbridge
Ladywell
Lambeth
Lamorbey
Lampton
Lea Bridge
Leamouth
Lee
Lewisham
Leyton
Leytonstone
Limehouse
Lisson Grove
Little Ilford
Longlands
Lower Clapton
Lower Morden
Loxford
Maida Vale
Malden Rushett
Manor House
Manor Park
Marks Gate
Maryland
Marylebone
Mayfair
Maze Hill
Merton Park
Mile End
Mill Hill
Millbank
Millwall
Mitcham
Monken Hadley
Morden Park
Morden
Mortlake
Motspur Park
Mottingham
Muswell Hill
Nag’s Head
Neasden
New Addington
New Barnet
New Cross
New Eltham
New Malden
New Southgate
Newbury Park
Newington
Nine Elms
Norbiton
Norbury
North Finchley
North Harrow
North Kensington
North Sheen
North Woolwich
Northolt
Norwood Green
Notting Hill
Nunhead
Oakleigh Park
Old Ford
Old Malden
Old Oak Common
Osidge
Osterley
Paddington
Palmers Green
Park Royal
Parsons Green
Peckham
Penge
Pentonville
Perivale
Petersham
Pimlico
Pinner
Plaistow
Plaistow
Plumstead
Ponders End
Poplar
Preston
Primrose Hill
Purley
Putney
Queen’s Park
Queensbury
Ratcliff
Rayners Lane
Raynes Park
Redbridge
Richmond
Riddlesdown
Roehampton
Rotherhithe
Rush Green
Sanderstead
Sands End
Selhurst
Selsdon
Seven Kings
Seven Sisters
Shacklewell
Shadwell
Shepherd’s Bush
Shirley
Shooter’s Hill
Shoreditch
Sidcup
Silvertown
Sipson
Snaresbrook
Soho
Somerstown
South Croydon
South Hackney
South Harrow
South Kensington
South Norwood
South Tottenham
South Wimbledon
South Woodford
Southall
Southborough
Southend
Southfields
Southgate
Spitalfields
St Giles
St Helier
St James’s
St John’s Wood
St Johns
St Luke’s
St Margarets
St Pancras
Stamford Hill
Stanmore
Stepney
Stockwell
Stoke Newington
Stratford
Strawberry Hill
Streatham
Stroud Green
Sudbury
Sundridge
Surbiton
Surrey Quays
Sutton
Swiss Cottage
Sydenham Hill
Sydenham
Teddington
Temple Fortune
Temple
Thamesmead
The Burroughs
The Hale
The Hyde
Thornton Heath
Tokyngton
Tolworth
Tooting Bec
Tooting
Tottenham Green
Tottenham Hale
Tottenham
Totteridge
Tower Hill
Tufnell Park
Tulse Hill
Turnpike Lane
Twickenham
Upper Clapton
Upper Norwood
Upper Walthamstow
Upton Park
Upton
Vauxhall
Waddon
Wallington
Walthamstow Village
Walthamstow
Walworth
Wandsworth
Wanstead
Wapping
Wealdstone
Welling
Wembley Park
Wembley
West Brompton
West Ealing
West Green
West Ham
West Hampstead
West Harrow
West Heath
West Hendon
West Kensington
West Norwood
West Wickham
Westcombe Park
Westminster
Whetstone
White City
Whitechapel
Whitton
Willesden
Wimbledon
Winchmore Hill
Wood Green
Woodford Green
Woodford
Woodlands
Woodside Park
Woodside
Woolwich
Worcester Park
Wormwood Scrubs
Yeading
Yiewsley

As is the case for all UK area codes, such numbers may also be used for services without any physical link to the area. (More info)

Types of London phone number

All 020 numbers are normal, London phone numbers and calls to 020 numbers are charged at standard landline rates.

Since the introduction of the 020 area code in April 2000, London numbers have been issued in distinct batches as follows:

Numbers	Issued from
(020) 7xxx xxxx	April 2000
(020) 8xxx xxxx	April 2000
(020) 3xxx xxxx	June 2005
(020) 4xxx xxxx	October 2019

There is no technical difference between the different batches and all are available for use by both business and personal customers throughout the London area.

As of early 2021, most numbers starting 3, 7 and 8 have been allocated to phone companies. Customers requesting new services may still be issued with numbers from these older batches, as companies use up existing stocks of phone numbers or recycle older ones.

Inner versus outer London

Prior to 2000, there were separate area codes for inner and outer London. The distinction was scrapped when the London-wide 020 area code was introduced.

When the new code was created, most old central London numbers moved to (020) 7, while outer London numbers moved to (020) 8. This led to a common misconception that a division still existed and that different batches of numbers were reserved for inner and outer London respectively.

However, there was never any official subdivision of the 020 area. New numbers starting ‘7’ or ‘8’ have been issued regardless of location for over 20 years, so it is no longer possible to reliably determine whether a number lies in the former ‘inner’ or ‘outer’ area.

London 0200 numbers and 0201 numbers

Unlike normal London numbers, numbers starting 020 0 and 020 1 cannot be dialled locally in London without using the 020 area code and are therefore not supposed to be used for standard home and business telephone lines.

Generally, these numbers are used for services that will never need to be dialled by members of the public, such as machine-to-machine communications or broadband-only and corporate telephone lines that do not receive incoming telephone calls. Using these numbers in such circumstances helps conserve stocks of normal London numbers for more mainstream uses.

Although not intended for normal public use, such numbers may sometimes be presented on caller display or through the 1471 service by mistake.

Formatting an 020 number

020 numbers should be displayed in the format 020 xxxx xxxx or (020) xxxx xxxx, with the first space always placed between ‘020’ and the eight-digit local number.

For international callers, use: +44 20 xxxx xxxx.

0203 numbers, 0204 numbers, 0207 numbers and 0208 numbers should all be written as above; formats such as ‘0207 xxx xxxx’ are incorrect. [Why?]

Recent history

London has gone through three area code changes since the introduction of widespread direct dialling in the 1950s.

Between 1990 and 2000, separate area codes were used for Central London and Outer London. This temporary division of London into separate inner and outer areas was abandoned when the new London-wide 020 area code was introduced.

The most recent area code change in the year 2000 resulted in over 79 million numbers from (020) 2000 0000 to (020) 9989 9999 becoming available for use in London – although only local numbers starting with 3, 4, 7 and 8 are currently in general use.

Year	Event	Example number
1958	Start of ‘subscriber trunk dialling’; 7-digit numbers and a London-wide area code of 01 become the standard over the next decade.	01 222 1234
1990	London area splits into two: 071 area code for inner London and 081 code for outer London. This doubles capacity while keeping local numbers at 7 digits long.	071 222 1234
1995	Area codes change to 0171 and 0181 respectively in line with nationwide changes. No change to local numbers.	0171 222 1234
1996	Consultation proposes eight-digit local numbers to deal with continuing high demand. Respondents reject separate 020 and 022 area codes for inner and outer London in favour of a single city-wide code.
1999	020 numbers start to run alongside old numbers from June. Either version can be used when dialling a number in full, but dialling locally using seven digits is unchanged.
2000	Final changeover to single London-wide 020 area code takes place in April. Local numbers lengthened to eight digits by prefixing with ‘7’ in old 0171 area or ‘8’ in old 0181 area.	020 7222 1234
2005	Local numbers beginning with 3 introduced.
2019	Local numbers beginning with 4 introduced.