Property Diligence

Kensington (W8) or Marylebone (W1U): an area comparison

Kensington has the lower recorded-sale median by £137,500. 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?

Kensington: £1,482,500. Marylebone: £1,620,000.

Kensington is lower in this 24-month sample.

Which has the broader school register?

Kensington: 4. Marylebone: 2 open establishments.

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

How does everyday access compare?

Bus nodes: W8 29, W1U 12. mapped green-space sites: W8 15, W1U 4.

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

The broad price gap is £137,500 across the 24-month samples. That gives Kensington the lower starting point, while the remaining sections show where the two district profiles differ.

Kensington has 4 registered schools, 15 mapped green-space sites and 29 bus nodes. Marylebone has 2, 4 and 12 respectively.

District prices

W8 recorded 466 completed sales in the 24-month sample. The median was £1,482,500. The £2,521,410 average is higher because a small number of expensive sales can lift it.

W1U recorded 145 completed sales in the 24-month sample. The median was £1,620,000. The £3,212,049 average is higher because a small number of expensive sales can lift it.

W8

Median recorded sale
£1,482,500
Average recorded sale
£2,521,410
Recorded sales
466 (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.

W1U

Median recorded sale
£1,620,000
Average recorded sale
£3,212,049
Recorded sales
145 (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 2,739 reports from 2025-07 to 2026-06. Violence and sexual offences, robbery, burglary and weapons-possession reports account for 765, or 27.9% of the total.

Police.uk records 2,791 reports from 2025-07 to 2026-06. Violence and sexual offences, robbery, burglary and weapons-possession reports account for 485, or 17.4% of the total.

W8

Reported crime, 12 months
2,739
Selected report-category share
765 (27.9%)
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.

W1U

Reported crime, 12 months
2,791
Selected report-category share
485 (17.4%)
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. W8 has a median of 8.0. 0.0% of mapped postcode units are in the poorer 1 to 3 band and 89.1% 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. W1U has a median of 8.0. 0.0% of mapped postcode units are in the poorer 1 to 3 band and 58.8% are in the more well-off 8 to 10 band.

W8

Median IMD decile
8.0 / 10
Postcode units in deciles 1–3
0.0%
Postcode units in deciles 8–10
89.1%
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.

W1U

Median IMD decile
8.0 / 10
Postcode units in deciles 1–3
0.0%
Postcode units in deciles 8–10
58.8%
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 4 open establishments in W8. It is a useful picture of the local school base, across the phases shown in the card below.

The register lists 2 open establishments in W1U. It is a useful picture of the local school base, across the phases shown in the card below.

W8

Registered school sites
4 (Primary: 3, 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.

W1U

Registered school sites
2 (Primary: 1, 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.

Green space and outdoor sport

OS maps 15 green-space or outdoor-sport sites covering 25.14 hectares, including 10 public parks or gardens. This gives the district a substantial mapped outdoor offer.

OS maps 4 green-space or outdoor-sport sites covering 1.81 hectares, including 3 public parks or gardens. This gives the district a substantial mapped outdoor offer.

W8

Mapped OS green-space sites
15
Mapped site area
25.14 ha
Public parks or gardens
10
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.

W1U

Mapped OS green-space sites
4
Mapped site area
1.81 ha
Public parks or gardens
3
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 678 postcode units. 88 have high-risk surrounding addresses and 155 have medium-risk surroundings.

The source covers 979 postcode units. 75 have high-risk surrounding addresses and 37 have medium-risk surroundings.

W8

Postcode units in source
678
Units with high-risk surroundings
88
Units with medium-risk surroundings
155
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.

W1U

Postcode units in source
979
Units with high-risk surroundings
75
Units with medium-risk surroundings
37
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 24.0 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 29.8 µg/m³. 100.0% of mapped units exceed the WHO 10 µg/m³ guideline and 0.0% meet or exceed 40 µg/m³.

W8

Median annual mean NO₂
24.0 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.

W1U

Median annual mean NO₂
29.8 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 29 active bus nodes and 4 rail, metro or tram nodes across W8. Together, they describe the district-wide public-transport network.

NaPTAN contains 12 active bus nodes and 1 rail, metro or tram nodes across W1U. Together, they describe the district-wide public-transport network.

W8

Active bus access nodes
29
Active rail, metro or tram nodes
4
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.

W1U

Active bus access nodes
12
Active rail, metro or tram nodes
1
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.

W8

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.

W1U

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 240 personal-injury collisions in 2022 to 24: 3 fatal, 44 serious and 193 slight.

DfT records 116 personal-injury collisions in 2022 to 24: 0 fatal, 22 serious and 94 slight.

W8

Reported collisions, 2022–24 (raw count)
240
Fatal
3
Serious
44
Slight
193
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.

W1U

Reported collisions, 2022–24 (raw count)
116
Fatal
0
Serious
22
Slight
94
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.