London Borough of Sutton: History
The area of the modern borough broadly corresponds to the five ancient parishes of Beddington, Carshalton, Cheam, Sutton and Wallington, all of which were historically in the county of Surrey.
The parish of Sutton was made a local government district in 1882. The neighbouring parish of Carshalton was made a local government district the following year. Such districts were reconstituted as urban districts under the Local Government Act 1894. Another urban district was created in 1915 covering the two parishes of Beddington and Wallington.
The Sutton Urban District was enlarged in 1928 to take in the neighbouring parish of Cheam, at which point the urban district was renamed 'Sutton and Cheam'. It was then incorporated to become a municipal borough in 1934. Beddington and Wallington Urban District became a municipal borough in 1937.
The modern London Borough of Sutton was created in 1965 under the London Government Act 1963, covering the combined area of the former Municipal Borough of Sutton and Cheam, Carshalton Urban District and Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington. The area was transferred from Surrey to Greater London to become one of the 32 London Boroughs.
The 2014 Family Hotspots Report, on the best places in England and Wales for families to live, placed three areas within the borough among the top 10 places in London. The areas were identified as postcodes SM1, SM2 (Sutton town) and SM3 (Cheam). A Rightmove study in 2015 found that Sutton was the fourth happiest borough in which to live out of 33 in London. It achieved the same placing in the 2016 survey. A Trust for London and New Policy Institute report noted that Sutton had the highest rate in London of pupils achieving 5 A* – C GCSEs. In December 2014 Sutton was described by a senior Government official as the most "normal place in Britain". In connection with this, the leader of Sutton Council described the borough as "quietly brilliant", and noted that 91% of residents say it is "a great place to live".
An Ipsos MORI poll in 2014 found that 97% of residents felt safe in the borough during the day, and 71% felt safe at night, a higher figure than in 2011.
In 2014, a survey by eMoov (Property Hot Spot Index) found Sutton to be the easiest place in the country in which to sell a property. It was shown in a national detailed Land Use Survey by the Office for National Statistics in 2005 that the London Borough of Sutton had the highest proportion of land taken up by gardens, 35.1%, of any district in England.