Living in SW3, Kensington and Chelsea
What the open data says about house prices, schools, crime and flood risk around SW3 in Kensington and Chelsea. Built from the same sources as every property report on this site, not opinion or marketing copy.
- Homes on the streets around central SW3 sold at a median of £1,500,000 across 69 recorded sales, above the England average of £290,000 (HM Land Registry).
- Prices across Kensington and Chelsea are down 14.1% on a year ago (UK House Price Index). The index for Kensington and Chelsea rests on 68 recorded sales in May 2026, the newest month with a count. July 2026 is a first estimate, which HM Land Registry revises as more sales are registered.
- Of the 191 schools within about 3 miles, 88% are rated Good or Outstanding, against 90% of state schools in England (Ofsted).
- The centre of SW3 is in flood zone 1 (low probability), on the Environment Agency flood map for planning.
- A Band D household in Kensington & Chelsea pays £1,667 in council tax for 2026-27, every precept included (MHCLG).
- Police recorded 1,079 crimes within roughly a mile of the centre in August 2026, most commonly anti social behaviour (Police.uk).
Figures gathered 14 October 2026, each from the source named in its section.
House prices
Average price in Kensington and Chelsea: £1,232,640, down 14.1% on a year ago (July 2026). The index for Kensington and Chelsea rests on 68 recorded sales in May 2026, the newest month with a count. July 2026 is a first estimate, which HM Land Registry revises as more sales are registered. The wider London average is £550,037.
Check sold prices for a specific address in SW3 →
See where SW3 ranks across London →
Council tax at Band D in Kensington and Chelsea: £1,667 a year (2026-27). Running costs by postcode: council tax, energy, tenure, and the estate charge no listing shows →
Compare SW3 with another district
Sold prices, the price trend, schools, flood zone, Band D council tax and crime for SW3 against any other district, each from the source the section below names.
What actually sold around SW3
69 recorded home sales on the streets around central SW3 in the last 2 years, with a median of £1,500,000 and a range from £166,000 to £8,500,000. Mostly flats and maisonettes.
| Address | Type | Sold for | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 47 Elystan Place, SW3 3JY | Terraced | £3,000,000 | 14 Aug 2026 |
| Flat 12 Arundel Court Jubilee Place, SW3 3TJ | Flat or maisonette | £650,000 | 27 May 2026 |
| 53 Elystan Place, SW3 3JY | Terraced | £2,900,000 | 19 May 2026 |
| Flat 44 Ranelagh House, 3 - 5 Elystan Place, SW3 3LD | Flat or maisonette | £600,000 | 30 Apr 2026 |
| 21 Markham Square, SW3 4UY | Terraced | £5,175,000 | 2 Apr 2026 |
| Flat 25 Cranmer Court Whiteheads Grove, SW3 3HN | Flat or maisonette | £1,700,000 | 18 Mar 2026 |
How to read this
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data. Every sale of a registered property in England and Wales appears here once it completes, so the most recent weeks are always still filling in.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data
Schools nearby
191 schools within 3 miles , of which 88% are rated Outstanding or Good by Ofsted.
| Nearest well-rated schools | Stage | Ofsted | Distance | Admitted from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oratory Roman Catholic Primary School | Primary | Outstanding | 0.2 mi away | 0.72 mi 2025/26 |
| Christ Church CofE Primary School | Primary | Outstanding | 0.3 mi away | 0.44 mi 2025/26 |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | Primary | Outstanding | 0.3 mi away | 1.67 mi 2025/26 |
| Chesterton Primary School | Primary | Outstanding | 1.2 mi away | 0.95 mi 2024/25 |
| Harris Academy Battersea | Secondary | Outstanding | 1.2 mi away | no figure |
| The London Oratory School | Secondary | Outstanding | 1.3 mi away | no figure |
Schools in SW3 with a published admission distance
How far away the last child offered a place lived, as the council published it. Tightest first; each name opens the school's page and its postcode checker.
| School | Stage | Admitted from | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
| Christ Church CofE Primary School | Primary | 0.44 mi | 2025/26 |
| Oratory Roman Catholic Primary School | Primary | 0.72 mi | 2025/26 |
| St Joseph's Catholic Primary School | Primary | 1.67 mi | 2025/26 |
| Marlborough Primary School | Primary | 2.97 mi | 2025/26 |
Will an address here get a place? How far Kensington and Chelsea schools admitted from, school by school →
88 state primary and 21 state secondary schools within range, plus 66 fee-paying schools.
Private schools
66 fee-paying schools within 3 miles: Ashbourne College, Brighton College Prep Kensington, Broomwood Pre-Prep & Broomwood Prep-Girls, Broomwood Prep - Boys, Cameron Vale School, Chepstow House School and others.
All 66 fee-paying schools near SW3, with ages and admissions →
Fee-paying schools are inspected by the Independent Schools Inspectorate, not Ofsted, and the ISI publishes no open data feed. That is why they carry no rating here. A missing grade means we cannot see one, not that the school was judged poorly.
Universities
12 higher education institutions within 3 miles: Birkbeck College, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Institute of Cancer Research, London Business School, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Royal Academy of Music and others.
Relevant beyond study: a large student population shapes rental demand, and term-time letting is a different market from family letting.
What people here do for work
The most common occupations among working residents, from the 2021 Census. This is occupation rather than industry: it says what people do, not which industries employ them.
| Occupation group | Share of workers |
|---|---|
| Managers, directors and senior officials | 36.7% |
| Professional occupations | 26.5% |
| Associate professional and technical | 17.2% |
| Caring, leisure and other service | 6.6% |
| Administrative and secretarial | 6.2% |
Source: ONS Census 2021, table TS063, for this district's small area.
How SW3 has changed since 2011
The biggest move: degree-level adults, up 7.8 points since 2011, with England's change beside each line.
How to read this
The census neighbourhood at the centre of SW3 (E01002914, 1,190 residents in 2021, down 23.9% on 2011) on the 2011 and 2021 censuses, with England's own change over the same decade for scale. Each line is a share of the neighbourhood's households or residents, so a growing area and a shrinking one compare fairly. The biggest move here: degree-level adults, up 7.8 points.
| Measure | 2011 | 2021 | Change | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49.5% | 49.4% | -0.1 pts | -2.0 pts |
| Households renting privately | 44.5% | 44.7% | +0.2 pts | +3.7 pts |
| Households renting socially | 2.0% | 5.6% | +3.6 pts | -0.6 pts |
| Residents under 15 | 13.4% | 14.2% | +0.8 pts | -0.3 pts |
| Residents 65 and over | 19.8% | 19.2% | -0.6 pts | +2.1 pts |
| Adults with a degree or equivalent | 57.9% | 65.7% | +7.8 pts | +6.5 pts |
| Residents born outside the UK | 50.0% | 52.3% | +2.3 pts | +3.6 pts |
| Residents in good or very good health | 88.3% | 87.9% | -0.4 pts | +0.8 pts |
| Residents in a white ethnic group | 86.1% | 80.3% | -5.8 pts | -4.4 pts |
Office for National Statistics, Census 2011 and Census 2021, Open Government Licence. A district holds many neighbourhoods; the full report for an address shows the one it sits in.
Crime
1,079 crimes recorded within roughly a mile of central SW3 in August 2026, most commonly anti social behaviour.
Flood risk
Zone 1 (low probability). This is the Environment Agency's flood zone for the area's centre point, an individual property's own risk can differ, especially near a specific watercourse.
Deprivation
This area falls in decile 9 of 10 on the Index of Multiple Deprivation (least deprived nationally), based on Kensington and Chelsea's figures.
Getting around & nearby essentials
23 supermarkets, 22 pharmacies, 592 restaurants and cafés, 48 pubs, 32 hospitals within a mile of central SW3, hospitals within three miles.
Buses from the centre of SW3
Best-served stop: Markham Street, with 29.9 buses an hour on weekday daytimes.
Evenings, Sundays and routes
The best-served stop within 800 m of the centre of SW3 is Markham Street: 29.9 buses an hour on a weekday daytime, 27.2 in the evening and 24.6 on Sunday daytime; first bus 00:04, last 00:22. Routes there: 19, 11, 22, 319, 211. 5 stops with a scheduled service within that distance.
Departures a passenger can board, from the timetables operators publish to the Department for Transport's Bus Open Data Service, for Tuesday 8 Sep 2026 and Sunday 13 Sep 2026. Scheduled, not observed. Two stops on opposite sides of a road are two stops. The full report does this for the stops within 500 m of an address.
Source: operators' timetables on the Bus Open Data Service (Department for Transport)
GP practices and A&E
3 GP practices within 3.0 km of the centre of SW3. The nearest, Health Partners at Violet Melchett, has 10,974 registered patients and 2,198 patients per fully qualified GP, against an England median of 2,186.
| Practice | From the centre | Patients | Per qualified GP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health Partners at Violet Melchett | 0.2 mi | 10,974 | 2,198 |
| The Chelsea Practice | 0.2 mi | 6,344 | 2,517 |
| Royal Hospital Chelsea | 0.4 mi | 288 | Not given |
Nearest A&E: Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, where 70.3% of type 1 attendances were seen within four hours in July 2026; then Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust at 73.1%.
How to read this
NHS England: patients registered at a GP practice (1 Aug 2026), the general practice workforce (July 2026), and A&E attendances by provider, monthly. Fully qualified GPs exclude trainees. Practices are matched by postcode.
Source: NHS England, monthly releases
Council tax and the council's finances
A Band D household in Kensington & Chelsea pays £1,667 for 2026-27, all precepts included, a rise of 4.7% on the year before against an England median rise of 4.8%. Every band for Kensington & Chelsea, and how it compares.
| Year | Band D bill | Rise |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | £1,331 | +6.1% |
| 2022-23 | £1,382 | +3.8% |
| 2023-24 | £1,442 | +4.3% |
| 2024-25 | £1,530 | +6.1% |
| 2025-26 | £1,592 | +4.1% |
| 2026-27 | £1,667 | +4.7% |
Exceptional Financial Support. Kensington & Chelsea was agreed support by government for 2023-24 (£51.8m), 2022-23 (£23.2m). Support is permission to borrow, or to spend capital receipts, on day-to-day services because the council could not otherwise set a balanced budget. Councils in this position tend to cut services and raise council tax by the most the rules allow.
How to read this
A home's own band is on its council tax bill, free to look up at gov.uk/council-tax-bands; the report shows every band's bill at the council beside the home's other checks.
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, live council tax tables (Band D, area averages) and the Exceptional Financial Support lists published each year; section 114 notices as published by the councils.
Source: MHCLG live council tax tables and Exceptional Financial Support lists
Common questions about SW3
What is the average house price in SW3?
The average sold price in Kensington and Chelsea is £1,232,640 as of July 2026, according to the UK House Price Index.
Are house prices rising in SW3?
Prices in Kensington and Chelsea are down 14.1% on a year ago (UK House Price Index). The index for Kensington and Chelsea rests on 68 recorded sales in May 2026, the newest month with a count. July 2026 is a first estimate, which HM Land Registry revises as more sales are registered.
What do houses actually sell for in SW3?
The median of 69 recorded sales around central SW3 in the last 2 years is £1,500,000, ranging from £166,000 to £8,500,000 (HM Land Registry Price Paid Data).
Are the schools good in SW3?
191 schools sit within 3 miles of central SW3, and 88% are rated Outstanding or Good by Ofsted.
How much crime is there in SW3?
1,079 crimes were recorded within roughly a mile of central SW3 in August 2026, most commonly anti social behaviour (Police.uk).
Is SW3 at risk of flooding?
Central SW3 sits in Zone 1 (low probability) for river and sea flooding (Environment Agency). Individual addresses vary, so check the full report for a specific property.
Is SW3 a good place to live?
That depends on what you need, so here is what the official data says rather than an opinion: 88% of nearby schools are rated Outstanding or Good by Ofsted; the median home sells for £1,500,000; the area sits in decile 9 of 10 on the Index of Multiple Deprivation; 1,079 crimes were recorded within about a mile. Every one of those figures names its source on this page.
Is SW3 safe?
1,079 crimes were recorded within roughly a mile of central SW3 in August 2026, according to Police.uk. The most common category was anti social behaviour. Crime counts follow how many people are around, so a busy district records more than a quiet one of the same size.
Neighbouring districts
Want the full picture for a specific property?
This page covers SW3 as a whole. For sold price history, EPC rating, exact-address crime and flood risk, school catchment areas and 30+ other checks on one specific property, search its full postcode.