London certainly isn’t shy of wealth – ranked fifth in the World’s Wealthiest Cities Report 2024, London is home to 227,000 millionaires. Affluence, luxury, and extravagance thrive in this city, brimming with gilded locales– where do the moneyed abide? Read on to find the most affluent areas in London.
1. Belgravia
Located in central London, Belgravia is lavished with grand stucco houses, upscale boutiques, garden squares, international embassies, and Michelin-starred restaurants. Formerly a sketchy nook infamous for rampant crime, it was developed in the 19th century with plush stuccos, attracting aristocrats and landed gentry.
The average rent price in the locale is £2,500 per month. According to real estate agencies, a basic flat in Belgravia is worth about £2,909,080, and an average house goes for £5,733,617. The neighbourhood hosts some of the world’s most expensive residences – London’s most expensive home, worth a whopping $74 million, is nestled in the heart of Belgravia and spans 14,700 square feet across six levels.
Star-studded to boot, Elizabeth Hurley, Nigella Lawson, and Sir Michael Caine live in Belgravia. It also used to be home to Mozart, Mary Shelley, Margaret Thatcher, and Winston Churchill.
2. Chelsea
Formerly London’s bohemian paradise, Chelsea has long been an affluent neck of the woods – by 1694, the then 3000-strong neighbourhood was known as “a village of palaces.”
A treasured west-end locale, it is abounding with red brick Victorian and Edwardian townhouses. Culturally spirited, galleries and museums pepper the neighbourhood, besides glamorous pubs, designer boutiques, and high-end cafes. Chelsea’s Tite Street was crowned the UK’s most expensive street in 2022, with its average house price sitting at £28.9 million.
The neighbourhood has attracted countless high-net-worth individuals over the years – celebrities such as the Beckhams, Mick Jagger, Elton John, and Stella McCartney call Chelsea their home.
The average monthly rent in this south-west postcode is £3,356, and the going rate for a basic flat is £1,193,000. A detached home will set you back at least £3,173,000.
3. Kensington
England’s royal postcode, Kensington is a dazzling jewel in London’s West End and the nation’s real estate landscape at large.
As the royals’ residence, a custodian of Europe’s cultural milestones, and the host of significant historic sites, Kensington is a destination in its own right. Museums, mansions, royal gardens, galleries, concert halls, and a high street lined with designer boutiques characterise the regal locale. With such a staggering net worth, the neighbourhood flaunts highly exclusive real estate.
An average Kensington home is worth at least £3,173,000, while the mean monthly rent in the westbound locale is £3,356. A maisonette or apartment will set you back about £2,000,000. The neighbourhood hosts “Billionaires' Row,” one of London’s most prestigious residential avenues, lined with gorgeous townhouses (each worth £35 million).
4. West Brompton
West Brompton is a serene suburb perched between the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Poised at the cusp of two prosperous west-bound districts, the neighbourhood boasts a high-end real estate landscape.
The locale is brimming with luxury hotels, fine dining restaurants, and grade-I-listed historic sites. With casually indulgent convenience, the median rent for a studio is £1,950, and a semi-detached 3-BHK is approximately worth £3.42 million.
5. Marylebone
Located at the heart of Central London, Marylebone is one of London's most sophisticated and urbane neighbourhoods. The locale pivots around its namesake High Street, which is known for being London’s luxe shopping district.
Dotted with period architecture, independent emporiums, flagship designer stores, Michelin-starred food joints, and beauteous streets, Marylebone embodies cosmopolitan elegance. Victorian, Georgian, and 20th-century-styled structures abide in Marylebone, making for a picturesque locale. Culturally noteworthy sites such as the Sherlock Museum, Madame Tussauds, and St. James's Roman Catholic Church embolden Marylebone’s prestige.
The going rate for detached properties is about £4,182,144, and for flats, it is £1,000,000. Residents of Marylebone walk in the footsteps of literary geniuses like Lord Byron and Charles Dickens, besides brushing shoulders with celebrities such as Adam Ant and Sir James Paul McCartney.
6. Mayfair
Brimming with splendid Georgian townhouses, extravagant hotels, the city’s most expensive pubs, and impenetrable private clubs, Mayfair is indeed a decadent haven restricted to the upper echelons of society.
Mayfair has been witnessing a steady surge in prime properties – the average price of a second-hand house sold in early 2024 is £57.8 million (the average size being 12,356 square feet), and the average price for an apartment sized roughly 2,850 square feet is £10 million. New homes in the elite neighbourhood demand about £5,500 to £10,000 per square foot.
7. Hampstead
Hampstead is a charming neighbourhood, brimful of artistic and literary merit. Boasting a uniquely bucolic comeliness, Hampstead inspired C.S. Lewis to pen “The Chronicles of Narnia,” which has been lauded for its spectacular visual imagery.
The neighbourhood hosts an array of listed buildings, such as the Everyman Cinema, one of the oldest theatres in the world; the historic Burgh House; and the Kenwood House, which was the residence of the Earls of Mansfield during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Since the early 20th century, Hampstead has attracted renowned cerebral individuals as well as rich and famous celebrities. Past and current residents include Sigmund Freud, Agatha Christie, T.S. Eliot, Harry Styles, and Elizabeth Taylor.
In Hampstead, an average detached property commands at least £5,600,000, while a simple flat may fetch about £1,000,000.
8. Notting Hill
A west-end gem, Notting Hill is draped in a rose-tinted garb owing to its pastel doors, bohemian marketplace, antique bookshops, and pop culture significance. It truly is an idyllic, cosmopolitan getaway, bearing traces of its artistically vibrant history.
This pastel fantasy land is an upscale district peppered with high-end restaurants, places of interest, and Victorian structures. With all its pink-hued splendour, its mean property net-worth is £950,529 – independent houses are worth about £5,500,000, and flats typically sell for a ballpark of £1,140,000.
9. The City of Westminster
The City of Westminster sprawls across Central and West London. This postcode holds immense weight, given that it accommodates the majority of London’s crucial sites, such as the Houses of Parliament and most of the British Government residences.
This City of Westminster houses notable landmarks, including shopping districts, royal parks, and posh suburbs – Oxford Street, Bond Street, Piccadilly, Soho, Regent’s Park, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abbey are just a handful of the countless influential haunts in this borough.
The average price of a detached property in Westminster is £2,585,000, while that of a flat is £854,000. The typical rent amounts to £2,348 per month for a one-bedroom residence.
10. Knightsbridge
Reposing between the London Borough of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Knightsbridge is arguably London’s most exclusive and sophisticated neighbourhood.
Historically rich yet cosmopolitan, the locale is studded with baroque Victorian and Edwardian townhouses, immodestly green gardens, ritzy shopping centres, and high-end restaurants. The neighbourhood is also home to Harrods, the iconic department store; the Victoria and Albert Museum; and the Wellington Arch. Bejewelled and ornate, Knightsbridge’s trademark structures indeed bestow the streets with peerless majesty. Its traditional grandeur and modern opulence truly exemplify the locale’s exquisite beauty.
As one of London’s most sought-after locations, the going rate of a flat in Knightsbridge is £2,604,353, while a semi-detached house commands approximately £6,319,367. Some of London’s most expensive properties abide in Knightsbridge – 2-8 Rutland Gate, a palatial mansion overlooking Hyde Park, has been listed for over £200 million. As per Land Registry reports, luxury flats in the area have been sold to the tune of £26,500,000 this past year.
London epitomises refinement, decadence, and fortune. The handsome city isn’t bashful in the face of its historic regalness and rich grandeur. Its affluent neighbourhoods fit like a glove for those with distinguished sensibilities – it’s time to find your ideal luxury sanctuary in London.
