Kensington and Chelsea

Stucco-fronted terraces, communal gardens behind black railings, and a density of independent schools and members' clubs that tells you this is old money rather than new — Kensington and Chelsea's streets have a settled, unhurried grandeur that doesn't need to try. You'll notice the mix quickly: prams and cleaners and delivery vans outside townhouses, tourists drifting up from the museums, and a quietness that comes from money rather than emptiness.

The transport picture is properly urban — ten rail and Underground connections including Holland Park, Notting Hill Gate and High Street Kensington mean you're rarely more than a few minutes from a line into the centre, and with 354 stops in total there's rarely a reason to drive. Schools carry real weight here too: Fox Primary School and The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School both hold Outstanding ratings, and with 70 schools in the area, families have genuine choice — though it's worth knowing that Holland Park School, one of the larger secondaries, is currently rated Inadequate, a reminder that the borough's excellent average hides some real variation. Housing is where the character sharpens into a number: a median price of £1.075m sits well above both the London region and the national picture, and the stock is dominated by leasehold flats — 435 leasehold sales against just 114 freehold in the recent sample — so a For Sale board here usually means a share of a grand conversion rather than a whole house with a garden. Prices have actually softened over the past year, down nearly 7%, and sit slightly below the borough's own benchmark, which suggests the froth of previous years has cooled a little without the fundamentals shifting.