Flats to Rent in Kensington and Chelsea

Renting in Kensington and Chelsea

Kensington and Chelsea is the most expensive London borough to rent in, by the ONS measure in the table above: its average rent is well above every other borough's, and its bedroom-by-bedroom averages are too. It is also the smallest of the 32 London boroughs by area, with the national museums of South Kensington, Holland Park, Portobello Road and the King's Road all inside it. Council tax softens the cost slightly: Band D is £1,666.65 in 2026/27, below the London average of £2,068 (MHCLG), and most flats are in the lower bands.

Prices are not uniform. The south of the borough (Knightsbridge, Chelsea, South Kensington) is where the most expensive lettings are; North Kensington and the Earl's Court area are where the borough's lower rents are found.

The neighbourhoods

Chelsea

Chelsea runs from Sloane Square along the King's Road towards World's End, with streets of terraced houses down to Chelsea Embankment and Cheyne Walk on the river. The Royal Court Theatre is on Sloane Square, the Saatchi Gallery in the Duke of York's Headquarters off the King's Road, and the Royal Hospital Chelsea hosts the RHS Chelsea Flower Show every May. The Chelsea Physic Garden, founded in 1673, is one of the oldest botanic gardens in the country. Sloane Square (District and Circle) is the only Underground station in Chelsea itself, so homes towards World's End are a long walk or a bus ride from the Tube.

South Kensington

South Kensington is the museum quarter: the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum sit along Exhibition Road, all free to enter, with Imperial College London and the Royal Albert Hall just to the north. The Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle and the Institut français have made the area a centre of London's French community for decades. South Kensington and Gloucester Road stations both have the District, Circle and Piccadilly lines. The downside is crowds: Exhibition Road and the station are full of visitors most days, especially in school holidays.

Knightsbridge

Knightsbridge, around Brompton Road and Sloane Street, is where Harrods is and where the borough's most expensive lettings are concentrated, mostly large flats and houses. Hyde Park is across the road to the north. It is a place with few everyday shops for its residents, and many of its homes are second homes or corporate lets, so it can feel quiet in the evenings. Knightsbridge station is on the Piccadilly line.

Kensington and Holland Park

Kensington High Street is one of the borough's main shopping streets, with the Design Museum at its western end in the former Commonwealth Institute building. Kensington Palace and Kensington Gardens are on the eastern edge. Holland Park, to the north-west, has woodland, the Kyoto Garden and an open-air opera season in summer; the streets around it are among the grandest residential streets in London. High Street Kensington (District and Circle) and Holland Park (Central) are the stations.

Notting Hill

Notting Hill has the pastel-painted terraces around Portobello Road, whose market is busiest on Saturdays, when the antiques stalls at the southern end are out. The Notting Hill Carnival takes over the area on the August bank holiday weekend: if you rent on or near the route, expect road closures, noise and crowds for three days, and plan accordingly. Notting Hill Gate has the Central, District and Circle lines.

North Kensington

North Kensington, around Ladbroke Grove, Golborne Road and Kensal Town, is the borough's most mixed area, with a large share of social housing alongside Victorian terraces. Golborne Road has a local street market and Moroccan and Portuguese cafés. Trellick Tower, Ernő Goldfinger's 1972 block, is Grade II* listed.

The area was devastated by the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, in which 72 people died. Ladbroke Grove and Latimer Road stations are on the Circle and Hammersmith & City lines. Rents here are the borough's lowest, though still high by London standards.

Earl's Court

Earl's Court has large Victorian houses divided into flats, mansion blocks and a long history as a first London address for new arrivals. The former exhibition centre site, which straddles the boundary with Hammersmith and Fulham, is being redeveloped in a long-running scheme; check the current plans and construction timetable if you would live beside it. Earl's Court station has the District and Piccadilly lines, the Piccadilly giving a direct run to Heathrow.

Getting around

The borough is covered by the Underground everywhere except parts of Chelsea. The Piccadilly line runs from Knightsbridge, South Kensington, Gloucester Road and Earl's Court to the West End and King's Cross, and west to Heathrow. The District and Circle lines serve the southern and western stations and run east to Victoria, Westminster and the City. The Central line from Notting Hill Gate and Holland Park goes to Oxford Circus, Bank and Liverpool Street. The Circle and Hammersmith & City lines serve North Kensington.

The borough has no Elizabeth line station; the nearest are Paddington and Bond Street. Check a specific commute on the TfL Journey Planner before you sign.

Schools

State secondaries include Holland Park School, Kensington Aldridge Academy in North Kensington and Chelsea Academy. The borough and its neighbours also have a large number of independent and international schools, including the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle. Read each school's admissions criteria and its latest Ofsted report (or, for independent schools, its latest inspection) before choosing a street for a school: faith, selective and independent schools do not admit on distance alone.

Parks and museums

Holland Park is the borough's largest park. Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park are on its eastern edge, and Brompton Cemetery, one of London's seven great Victorian cemeteries, is a quiet green space near Earl's Court. The free national museums of South Kensington are the borough's other great public asset.

Safety

Crime is concentrated around the busiest places: the museums and Exhibition Road, Portobello Road on market days, the King's Road and Kensington High Street, where pickpocketing and phone theft are the common offences. Residential streets away from those centres are generally quiet. For a specific street, the police's crime map at police.uk shows reported crime month by month.

Who it suits

Kensington and Chelsea suits renters whose budget or employer housing allowance can carry London's highest rents, and who will use what they pay for: the museums, the parks, the Piccadilly line to Heathrow. North Kensington and Earl's Court are the realistic options for most renters who want a Kensington address. It suits people less well if they want space for their money, a lively mixed high street at every corner, or quiet streets on Carnival weekend.

Useful links

Kensington and Chelsea Council: rbkc.gov.uk (council tax, parking permits, school admissions)
Crime by street: police.uk
Journeys: tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey
Holland Park: rbkc.gov.uk/leisure-and-culture/parks

The listings above are homes and rooms advertised by their landlords in the borough now. Each listing shows its address area, so you can check the nearest station and street before you get in touch.