Property Diligence

Balham (SW12) or Camden (NW1): an area comparison

Camden has the lower recorded-sale median by £24,250. The cards below show how the two areas compare on prices, schools, green space, local profile and transport.

The short answer

Which has the lower district median?

Balham: £700,000. Camden: £675,750.

Camden is lower in this 24-month sample.

Which has the broader school register?

Balham: 11. Camden: 51 open establishments.

This is the size of each district's registered school base.

How does everyday access compare?

Bus nodes: SW12 40, NW1 153. mapped green-space sites: SW12 14, NW1 82.

These counts show the scale of each district's transport and outdoor offer.

The broad price gap is £24,250 across the 24-month samples. That gives Camden the lower starting point, while the remaining sections show where the two district profiles differ.

Balham has 11 registered schools, 14 mapped green-space sites and 40 bus nodes. Camden has 51, 82 and 153 respectively.

District prices

SW12 recorded 841 completed sales in the 24-month sample. The median was £700,000. The £869,402 average is higher because a small number of expensive sales can lift it.

NW1 recorded 729 completed sales in the 24-month sample. The median was £675,750. The £1,315,686 average is higher because a small number of expensive sales can lift it.

SW12

Median recorded sale
£700,000
Average recorded sale
£869,402
Recorded sales
841 (24 months)
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data. local 2025-2026 bulk snapshot. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
How this was counted

Postcode district. non-deleted recorded sales in preceding 24 months.

NW1

Median recorded sale
£675,750
Average recorded sale
£1,315,686
Recorded sales
729 (24 months)
HM Land Registry Price Paid Data. local 2025-2026 bulk snapshot. Retrieved 2026-10-01.
How this was counted

Postcode district. non-deleted recorded sales in preceding 24 months.

Crime and serious-crime share

Police.uk records 3,361 reports from 2025-07 to 2026-06. Violence and sexual offences, robbery, burglary and weapons-possession reports account for 873, or 26.0% of the total.

Police.uk records 15,319 reports from 2025-07 to 2026-06. Violence and sexual offences, robbery, burglary and weapons-possession reports account for 4,052, or 26.5% of the total.

SW12

Reported crime, 12 months
3,361
Selected report-category share
873 (26.0%)
data.police.uk street-level crime custom download. 2025-07 to 2026-06; seven verified programme forces. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. Police.uk anonymised coordinates assigned to nearest Code-Point Open centroid; selected-category share is not an official severity rate.

NW1

Reported crime, 12 months
15,319
Selected report-category share
4,052 (26.5%)
data.police.uk street-level crime custom download. 2025-07 to 2026-06; seven verified programme forces. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. Police.uk anonymised coordinates assigned to nearest Code-Point Open centroid; selected-category share is not an official severity rate.

Local-area deprivation context

IMD is a Government local-area scale from 1 to 10: 1 is the poorer end, while 10 is the more well-off end. SW12 has a median of 7.0. 0.3% of mapped postcode units are in the poorer 1 to 3 band and 42.6% are in the more well-off 8 to 10 band.

IMD is a Government local-area scale from 1 to 10: 1 is the poorer end, while 10 is the more well-off end. NW1 has a median of 3.0. 66.2% of mapped postcode units are in the poorer 1 to 3 band and 6.2% are in the more well-off 8 to 10 band.

SW12

Median IMD decile
7.0 / 10
Postcode units in deciles 1–3
0.3%
Postcode units in deciles 8–10
42.6%
MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation postcode download. 2025. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. distribution of official IMD25 postcode assignments; England only.

NW1

Median IMD decile
3.0 / 10
Postcode units in deciles 1–3
66.2%
Postcode units in deciles 8–10
6.2%
MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation postcode download. 2025. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. distribution of official IMD25 postcode assignments; England only.

Schools

The register lists 11 open establishments in SW12. It is a useful picture of the local school base, across the phases shown in the card below.

The register lists 51 open establishments in NW1. It is a useful picture of the local school base, across the phases shown in the card below.

SW12

Registered school sites
11 (16 plus: 1, Nursery: 1, Primary: 7, Secondary: 2)
DfE Get Information about Schools establishment register. 2026-08-02. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. open GIAS establishments grouped by registered postcode district.

NW1

Registered school sites
51 (16 plus: 1, All-through: 1, Nursery: 3, Primary: 39, Secondary: 7)
DfE Get Information about Schools establishment register. 2026-08-02. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. open GIAS establishments grouped by registered postcode district.

Green space and outdoor sport

OS maps 14 green-space or outdoor-sport sites covering 59.67 hectares, including 1 public parks or gardens. This gives the district a substantial mapped outdoor offer.

OS maps 82 green-space or outdoor-sport sites covering 161.98 hectares, including 20 public parks or gardens. This gives the district a substantial mapped outdoor offer.

SW12

Mapped OS green-space sites
14
Mapped site area
59.67 ha
Public parks or gardens
1
OS Open Greenspace. April 2026 programme-city tile manifest. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. OS Open Greenspace April 2026 site polygon geometric centroid assigned to nearest Code-Point Open postcode centroid.

NW1

Mapped OS green-space sites
82
Mapped site area
161.98 ha
Public parks or gardens
20
OS Open Greenspace. April 2026 programme-city tile manifest. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. OS Open Greenspace April 2026 site polygon geometric centroid assigned to nearest Code-Point Open postcode centroid.

Flood context

The source covers 594 postcode units. 120 have high-risk surrounding addresses and 138 have medium-risk surroundings.

The source covers 5,284 postcode units. 1,111 have high-risk surrounding addresses and 1,075 have medium-risk surroundings.

SW12

Postcode units in source
594
Units with high-risk surroundings
120
Units with medium-risk surroundings
138
Environment Agency Flood risk: postcode search tool data. 2026-07-10. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. sum of Environment Agency postcode source counts by outward postcode; counts concern areas around addresses, not a named property.

NW1

Postcode units in source
5,284
Units with high-risk surroundings
1,111
Units with medium-risk surroundings
1,075
Environment Agency Flood risk: postcode search tool data. 2026-07-10. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. sum of Environment Agency postcode source counts by outward postcode; counts concern areas around addresses, not a named property.

Air quality

The 2024 modelled annual-mean NO₂ median is 18.2 µg/m³. 100.0% of mapped units exceed the WHO 10 µg/m³ guideline and 0.0% meet or exceed 40 µg/m³.

The 2024 modelled annual-mean NO₂ median is 25.1 µg/m³. 100.0% of mapped units exceed the WHO 10 µg/m³ guideline and 0.0% meet or exceed 40 µg/m³.

SW12

Median annual mean NO₂
18.2 µg/m³
Postcode units above WHO 10 µg/m³
100.0%
Postcode units at or above legal 40 µg/m³
0.0%
DEFRA Pollution Climate Mapping annual-mean NO2 grid. 2024. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. DEFRA PCM 2024 1 km modelled annual-mean NO2 looked up at each Code-Point Open postcode centroid; postcode-unit weighted district summary.

NW1

Median annual mean NO₂
25.1 µg/m³
Postcode units above WHO 10 µg/m³
100.0%
Postcode units at or above legal 40 µg/m³
0.0%
DEFRA Pollution Climate Mapping annual-mean NO2 grid. 2024. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. DEFRA PCM 2024 1 km modelled annual-mean NO2 looked up at each Code-Point Open postcode centroid; postcode-unit weighted district summary.

Transport access nodes

NaPTAN contains 40 active bus nodes and 11 rail, metro or tram nodes across SW12. Together, they describe the district-wide public-transport network.

NaPTAN contains 153 active bus nodes and 67 rail, metro or tram nodes across NW1. Together, they describe the district-wide public-transport network.

SW12

Active bus access nodes
40
Active rail, metro or tram nodes
11
NaPTAN. 2026-08-02. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. active NaPTAN access node assigned to nearest Code-Point Open centroid.

NW1

Active bus access nodes
153
Active rail, metro or tram nodes
67
NaPTAN. 2026-08-02. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. active NaPTAN access node assigned to nearest Code-Point Open centroid.

Broadband availability

The postcode-unit median maximum advertised download is 1,000 Mbit/s, with 100.0% full-fibre and 100.0% gigabit availability.

The postcode-unit median maximum advertised download is 1,000 Mbit/s, with 100.0% full-fibre and 100.0% gigabit availability.

SW12

Median maximum advertised download
1,000 Mbit/s
Median full-fibre availability
100.0%
Median gigabit availability
100.0%
Ofcom Connected Nations. 2025. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. median across postcode units.

NW1

Median maximum advertised download
1,000 Mbit/s
Median full-fibre availability
100.0%
Median gigabit availability
100.0%
Ofcom Connected Nations. 2025. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. median across postcode units.

Road safety

DfT records 303 personal-injury collisions in 2022 to 24: 0 fatal, 43 serious and 260 slight.

DfT records 811 personal-injury collisions in 2022 to 24: 1 fatal, 133 serious and 677 slight.

SW12

Reported collisions, 2022–24 (raw count)
303
Fatal
0
Serious
43
Slight
260
DfT STATS19 Road Safety Data. 2022-2024 collision files. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. 2022–24 STATS19 collision assigned to nearest Code-Point Open centroid.

NW1

Reported collisions, 2022–24 (raw count)
811
Fatal
1
Serious
133
Slight
677
DfT STATS19 Road Safety Data. 2022-2024 collision files. Original download date not recorded.
How this was counted

Postcode district. 2022–24 STATS19 collision assigned to nearest Code-Point Open centroid.

Sources and method

For an address-specific desk check, Property Diligence’s paid report adds the more detailed property-level information available from public sources.