Residential riches
25th Jul 2008
Property Rich List reveals Britain's hottest property spots
Britain's Property Rich List 2008, released today, reveals that Kensington Palace Gardens, in London's swanky W8 is officially the most expensive street to live on in Britain - with average home values at a staggering £41.4 million. This tree-lined, gated community adjacent to Kensington Palace and Hyde Park is home to some of the UK's wealthiest individuals including billionaire Industrialist Lakshmi Mittal. In second place is Compton Avenue, located opposite Kenwood in North London, where average home values stand at just over £7.5 million.
Published by Zoopla.co.uk, the UK's leading property valuation website, the list highlights exactly where's hot and where's not across England, Scotland and Wales.
Top 10 'Highest value streets' in Britain
| Street | Average values | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 | £41,375,488 |
| 2 | Compton Avenue, London N6 | £7,516,422 |
| 3 | Courtenay Avenue, London N6 | £6,100,427 |
| 4 | Chelsea Square, London SW3 | £5,948,996 |
| 5 | Manresa Road, London SW3 | £5,463,249 |
| 6 | Ilchester Place, London W14 | £5,329,546 |
| 7 | Spaniards Close, London NW11 | £5,284,724 |
| 8 | Elm Walk, London NW3 | £5,142,669 |
| 9 | Essex Villas, London W8 | £5,115,968 |
| 10 | Gilston Road, London SW10 | £5,007,586 |
Unsurprisingly, London dominates the Property Rich List as home to all of Britain's Top 20 Highest value streets, with average values exceeding £4.5m to make the cut this year. Demonstrating the high concentration of wealth within a few exclusive areas of the capital, fashionable Kensington, Knightsbridge and Chelsea account for twelve of the top twenty most expensive streets in Britain, followed closely by leafy Hampstead and Highgate with six of the top twenty.
As a result of the property boom of the past few years and further highlighting the North/South divide, London now has over a thousand (1,106) streets where home values are currently over £1 million. By contrast, Manchester and Liverpool are home to 2,555 and 1,834 streets respectively where average values remain below £100,000.
When it comes to the most expensive areas to live in Britain, whilst London occupies many of the top slots (with average home values in some areas up to five times the national average), other areas outside the capital rounding out the Top 20 Areas include Virginia Water, Cobham and Leatherhead in Surrey and Beaconsfield, Chalfont St Giles and Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire.
Top 10 'Highest value areas' in Britain
| Area | Average values | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | W8 (Kensington) | £1,316,345 |
| 2 | SW7 (Knightsbridge) | £1,046,420 |
| 3 | SW3 (Chelsea) | £1,037,914 |
| 4 | W11 (Notting Hill) | £827,967 |
| 5 | GU25 (Virginia Water) | £807,346 |
| 6 | SW10 (West Brompton) | £782,066 |
| 7 | SW13 (Barnes) | £730,964 |
| 8 | KT11 (Cobham) | £690,098 |
| 9 | HP9 (Beaconsfield) | £674,584 |
| 10 | NW3 (Hampstead) | £671,634 |
Outside London, Britain's 20 'Highest value towns' are concentrated throughout the South East with the exception of Salcombe in Devon, where average values are currently £470,147. At the other end of the spectrum, some of the lowest value areas in Britain are to be found in Middlesbrough, Hull and Grimsby. See the full list of 'Lowest value areas/towns'.
Top 10 'Highest value towns' in Britain
| Town | Average values | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Virginia Water, Surrey | £807,346 |
| 2 | Cobham, Surrey | £690,098 |
| 3 | Beaconsfield | £674,584 |
| 4 | Keston, Kent | £651,563 |
| 5 | Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire | £645,910 |
| 6 | Esher, Surrey | £627,439 |
| 7 | Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire | £625,607 |
| 8 | Radlett, Hertfordshire | £555,148 |
| 9 | Richmond, Surrey | £548,043 |
| 10 | Brockenhurst, Hampshire | £541,715 |
Alex Chesterman, CEO of Zoopla.co.uk commented:
"The Property Rich List provides the most in-depth guide to property values in different areas of Britain, highlighting where's hot and where's not and is updated continuously, allowing us to report on movements and trends. Zoopla.co.uk provides free, instant value estimates on all 27 million UK homes, allowing users to check out and track the value of their home, or anyone else's, along with local information and market trends. As the UK's most comprehensive guide to property values, Zoopla.co.uk is fast-becoming an essential resource for anyone interested in the property market."
- Ends -
For further information, please contact PR Team on pr@zoopla.co.uk or +44 (0)20 3873 8770.
Notes to Editor
- May 2008 - Zoopla.co.uk named 'UK's Most Promising Internet Company' by First Tuesday
- June 2008 - Zoopla.co.uk is 'UK's fastest growing property website' (Source: comScore)
What is Zoopla?
Zoopla is a revolutionary online publishing service and community website providing information and tools to give users an advantage in the UK residential property market. Our aim is to create a transparent marketplace and we believe that information should be free and easily accessible to everyone.
How did it start? In early 2007, following the success of bringing DVD rental to the internet with LOVEFiLM.com, Zoopla founders Alex Chesterman and Simon Kain realised that the internet had yet to deliver meaningful change to the UK property market. It became clear that consumers lacked essential tools and information to help them understand home values, view similar properties, learn about past transactions...
...and then we thought:
- Why not offer users a tool to get access to FREE, instant value estimates on their homes or anyone else's?
- Why not let buyers make offers on ANY home, instead of just the 4 per cent of homes currently on the market 'for sale'?
- Why not let owners find out if there is any market interest in their homes without having to list them 'for sale'?
- Why not let agents and sellers market their 'for sale' listings FREE by providing them with easy-to-use tools?
- Why not let anyone ask/answer questions and share their knowledge about any homes or neighbourhoods?
- Why not put current value estimates, sold prices, homes for sale and local information all together in one place?
So, we have started by providing FREE value estimates and sold prices on homes, allowing sellers and agents to list homes for sale FREE, and letting all users edit information and upload photos. We have also launched some unique features, like TemptMe™ and AskMe™, which allow users to gain an insight into the market and discover information they won't find anywhere else.
By making TemptMe™ offers, buyers can try to entice owners to consider selling. Owners also benefit from this unique feature by being able to see what level of interest there is on their home without actually having to list it for sale.
The AskMe™ community feature allows anyone to find out more about any home or neighbourhood that they are interested in by posting questions for those in the know to answer.
Zoopla value estimates are calculated using a proprietary algorithm (secret formula) that we have developed by analysing millions of data points relating to property sales and home characteristics throughout the UK. The algorithm works by comparing relationships between home prices, economic trends and property characteristics in given geographic areas. Our estimates are constantly refined by our team of analysts, using the most recent data available and a variety of statistical methodologies, in order to provide the most current information on any home.
Zoopla Limited is a privately held company, backed by leading international venture capital firm Atlas Venture.