Property Diligence

Chelsea (SW3) or South Kensington (SW7): an area comparison

Chelsea has the lower recorded-sale median by £195,000. 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?

Chelsea: £1,250,000. South Kensington: £1,445,000.

Chelsea is lower in this 24-month sample.

Which has the broader school register?

Chelsea: 6. South Kensington: 1 open establishments.

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

How does everyday access compare?

Bus nodes: SW3 49, SW7 62. mapped green-space sites: SW3 31, SW7 24.

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

The broad price gap is £195,000 across the 24-month samples. That gives Chelsea the lower starting point, while the remaining sections show where the two district profiles differ.

Chelsea has 6 registered schools, 31 mapped green-space sites and 49 bus nodes. South Kensington has 1, 24 and 62 respectively.

District prices

SW3 recorded 509 completed sales in the 24-month sample. The median was £1,250,000. The £2,431,981 average is higher because a small number of expensive sales can lift it.

SW7 recorded 390 completed sales in the 24-month sample. The median was £1,445,000. The £2,452,569 average is higher because a small number of expensive sales can lift it.

SW3

Median recorded sale
£1,250,000
Average recorded sale
£2,431,981
Recorded sales
509 (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.

SW7

Median recorded sale
£1,445,000
Average recorded sale
£2,452,569
Recorded sales
390 (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 3,872 reports from 2025-07 to 2026-06. Violence and sexual offences, robbery, burglary and weapons-possession reports account for 817, or 21.1% of the total.

Police.uk records 2,842 reports from 2025-07 to 2026-06. Violence and sexual offences, robbery, burglary and weapons-possession reports account for 665, or 23.4% of the total.

SW3

Reported crime, 12 months
3,872
Selected report-category share
817 (21.1%)
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.

SW7

Reported crime, 12 months
2,842
Selected report-category share
665 (23.4%)
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. SW3 has a median of 7.0. 12.8% of mapped postcode units are in the poorer 1 to 3 band and 42.4% 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. SW7 has a median of 7.0. 0.9% of mapped postcode units are in the poorer 1 to 3 band and 39.8% are in the more well-off 8 to 10 band.

SW3

Median IMD decile
7.0 / 10
Postcode units in deciles 1–3
12.8%
Postcode units in deciles 8–10
42.4%
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.

SW7

Median IMD decile
7.0 / 10
Postcode units in deciles 1–3
0.9%
Postcode units in deciles 8–10
39.8%
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 6 open establishments in SW3. It is a useful picture of the local school base, across the phases shown in the card below.

The register lists 1 open establishments in SW7. It is a useful picture of the local school base, across the phases shown in the card below.

SW3

Registered school sites
6 (Nursery: 1, Primary: 4, Secondary: 1)
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.

SW7

Registered school sites
1 (Primary: 1)
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 31 green-space or outdoor-sport sites covering 14.60 hectares, including 14 public parks or gardens. This gives the district a substantial mapped outdoor offer.

OS maps 24 green-space or outdoor-sport sites covering 9.58 hectares, including 14 public parks or gardens. This gives the district a substantial mapped outdoor offer.

SW3

Mapped OS green-space sites
31
Mapped site area
14.60 ha
Public parks or gardens
14
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.

SW7

Mapped OS green-space sites
24
Mapped site area
9.58 ha
Public parks or gardens
14
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 847 postcode units. 118 have high-risk surrounding addresses and 221 have medium-risk surroundings.

The source covers 596 postcode units. 120 have high-risk surrounding addresses and 141 have medium-risk surroundings.

SW3

Postcode units in source
847
Units with high-risk surroundings
118
Units with medium-risk surroundings
221
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.

SW7

Postcode units in source
596
Units with high-risk surroundings
120
Units with medium-risk surroundings
141
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 24.9 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 25.2 µg/m³. 100.0% of mapped units exceed the WHO 10 µg/m³ guideline and 0.0% meet or exceed 40 µg/m³.

SW3

Median annual mean NO₂
24.9 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.

SW7

Median annual mean NO₂
25.2 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.

Transport access nodes

NaPTAN contains 49 active bus nodes and 6 rail, metro or tram nodes across SW3. Together, they describe the district-wide public-transport network.

NaPTAN contains 62 active bus nodes and 18 rail, metro or tram nodes across SW7. Together, they describe the district-wide public-transport network.

SW3

Active bus access nodes
49
Active rail, metro or tram nodes
6
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.

SW7

Active bus access nodes
62
Active rail, metro or tram nodes
18
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.

SW3

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.

SW7

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 335 personal-injury collisions in 2022 to 24: 2 fatal, 61 serious and 272 slight.

DfT records 222 personal-injury collisions in 2022 to 24: 0 fatal, 46 serious and 176 slight.

SW3

Reported collisions, 2022–24 (raw count)
335
Fatal
2
Serious
61
Slight
272
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.

SW7

Reported collisions, 2022–24 (raw count)
222
Fatal
0
Serious
46
Slight
176
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.