April 28th, 2020
For the fifth year in a row, Richmond upon Thames has been voted the happiest place to live in London. The riverside town is the capital’s home of rugby and has great sports facilities. The town itself has a mix of boutiques, independents and high street brands with bars and pubs on the riverbank.
This all comes at a cost: the average asking price of a home in Richmond is £802,240 — down 6.1 per cent on this time last year but much higher than the London average asking price of £609,506.
Savills’ Daniel Hutchins says most people who move to Richmond have a link to the area or grew up there. “This has created a real sense of community,” he says.
Richmond was followed by leafy Kingston upon Thames and mega-expensive Kensington & Chelsea. Average asking price in Kensington & Chelsea £1,570,219, scored well on restaurants and shops.
Camden and Wandsworth came in fourth and fifth in the ranking published today. Camden has moved up the Rightmove rankings from sixth last year to fourth this year. Property is expensive given its proximity to central London, with the average price of £961,367 pulled up by areas such as Primrose Hill and Hampstead.
The other two boroughs in the top five, Kingston and Wandsworth, have a much lower average price point, with stock designed for first-time buyers.The average asking price in Kingston is £579,250 — 5.9 per cent lower than this time last year as the outer London market continues to cool. It scored well on culture and people feel they can “be themselves”. The average asking price in Wandsworth is £757,895.
Hackney is now firmly in the top 10 ahead of Merton, Westminster and Waltham Forest. Hackney has secured a £2 million grant from the Mayor’s Regeneration Fund, matched by the council, to turn it into a fashion and shopping hub.
Bromley came sixth. Two thirds of the borough is green space and there are 954 sports facilities.The average asking price is £534,535, which has edged down this year by 0.2 per cent.
