[clarification needed] It stretches along the B269 Limpsfield Road with typical suburban houses and a relatively large parade with several restaurants, convenience stores and other shops.

The northern border of the village with Sanderstead is Wentworth Way, which marks the edge of the former Hamsey Green Farm estate that was sold off for housing in the 1920s.

The Good Companions, a large pub on the corner with Tithepit Shaw Lane, on the Croydon side of the border, was demolished in December 2012; to the south in Surrey, Hamsey Green is mainly residential with a primary and a secondary school.

Suburban development in the 1930s reduced the size of the pond; it is now maintained by Croydon Council and local volunteers.

There are important open spaces on either side of Hamsey Green: to the east is King's Wood; to the west is Riddlesdown.