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About Kensington

Kensington: not just for multi-millionaires!

City slickers, Russian oligarchs and French families may help to define modern Kensington, but this area of south-west London has long attracted buyers of all types, with its proximity to central London (and easy getaway to the country), museums, top schools, the borough’s 23 parks including Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, designer shopping and enough restaurants and nightclubs for any party animal.

Kensington property is not necessarily what it may seem, though: those huge stucco-fronted family houses have mostly been converted into luxury apartments fetching upwards of £800,000 – and, despite its reputation as an expensive area to buy or rent property in (over half of London’s most expensive streets are in the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea), you can pick up a studio flat for £350,000.

However, the lack of large family houses in Kensington – Douglas & Gordon’s UK office covers parts of SW5, SW7 and W8 – doesn’t deter families from looking to buy accommodation in the area: many buyers are European and have a culture of living in apartments. Douglas & Gordon’s Kensington estate agency sales manager Tamzin Prout explains that her clients are from right across the board: singles, couples, families. “It’s a myth that you have to be a multi-millionaire to live here. We have everything, from a studio flat at £350,000 to a stunning three-bedroom flat in Courtfield Gardens for £2.95m, with the average between £800,000 and £1 million. The few mews houses that come on to the market are snapped up immediately.”

During 2007, Tamzin explains, “real estate prices have risen mindbogglingly, mainly due to huge City bonuses! We’re also suffering a huge lack of supply of property to the market; although interest rates have risen, that has less impact around here, where people often buy a home for investment. Traditionally, summer and Christmas are quiet times, but not last year.”

Historically, this sophisticated and cosmopolitan area has been popular with foreign nationals and this is still the case. “Lots of Russians are buying houses and apartments, plus French families with children at the Lycee – the good schools in Kensington bring in lots of families.”

The lettings market in Kensington

Not surprisingly, given its largely international population, Kensington also has a thriving lettings market. Lettings manager Emily Nicholl says, “The rental market is looking extremely positive. There aren’t many one-bedroom flats or houses available for renting as they’ve all been sold, but we’re seeing huge increases in rental value, with landlords achieving the same heady levels as they did in 2000 and 2001.”

Kensington features the whole gamut of property to rent; generally, rental income ranges from £700 per week for a two-bedroom flat up to £4300 per week for the largest house. There are cheaper areas to live in so why do people want to rent accommodation in Kensington? “They like the fact that it’s quiet and residential, with good restaurants and tranquil garden squares. Most of our tenants are City folk so they appreciate the excellent transport links from Gloucester Road Tube station – Kensington is a very accessible area.”

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