Average 1 Bedroom Rent in Kensington and Chelsea 2026
A 1 bedroom property in Kensington and Chelsea rents for an average of £2,674 per month as of September 2026, +3.5% on a year earlier. That is 62.5% of median local full-time pay.
Kensington and Chelsea is the 32nd cheapest of 32 London boroughs for this size. ONS figures for September 2026, published . Next update after the ONS release on .
What that costs relative to local pay
A 1 bedroom in Kensington and Chelsea against what people living in Kensington and Chelsea actually earn.
How to read this. Earnings are gross — before tax and National Insurance — so the share of take-home pay is materially higher. The earnings figure is for 2024, the latest year GLA London Datastore publishes, while the rent figure is current; pay has risen since, so the true present-day ratio is somewhat lower than shown. Both are medians for people living in the area, not for jobs located there.
1 Bedroom rent in Kensington and Chelsea since 2015
Year-by-year figures
| Year | Average 1 bed rent |
|---|---|
| 2015 | £1,962 |
| 2016 | £2,070 |
| 2017 | £2,127 |
| 2018 | £1,908 |
| 2019 | £1,975 |
| 2020 | £1,947 |
| 2021 | £1,843 |
| 2022 | £2,032 |
| 2023 | £2,253 |
| 2024 | £2,540 |
| 2025 | £2,599 |
| 2026 | £2,674 |
Other property sizes in Kensington and Chelsea
1 Bedroom rent across every London borough
Cheapest first, September 2026.
| # | Borough | 1 bed rent | Year on year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Havering | £1,218 | +1.1% |
| 2 | Bexley | £1,231 | +1.8% |
| 3 | Sutton | £1,248 | +3.1% |
| 4 | Hillingdon | £1,260 | +3.4% |
| 5 | Croydon | £1,267 | +3.3% |
| 6 | Bromley | £1,318 | +3.4% |
| 7 | Redbridge | £1,373 | +2.3% |
| 8 | Barking and Dagenham | £1,378 | +2.2% |
| 9 | Kingston upon Thames | £1,386 | −0.4% |
| 10 | Harrow | £1,395 | +2.5% |
| 11 | Waltham Forest | £1,407 | +2.4% |
| 12 | Enfield | £1,426 | +5.7% |
| 13 | Lewisham | £1,459 | +2.1% |
| 14 | Barnet | £1,502 | +3% |
| 15 | Greenwich | £1,564 | +6% |
| 16 | Brent | £1,578 | +4.7% |
| 17 | Hounslow | £1,589 | +3.6% |
| 18 | Newham | £1,631 | +2.8% |
| 19 | Ealing | £1,642 | +3.9% |
| 20 | Haringey | £1,643 | +1.3% |
| 21 | Merton | £1,645 | +5.6% |
| 22 | Richmond upon Thames | £1,744 | +5.6% |
| 23 | Lambeth | £1,890 | +3.4% |
| 24 | Southwark | £1,907 | +7.5% |
| 25 | Wandsworth | £1,943 | +4.4% |
| 26 | Tower Hamlets | £1,998 | +3.6% |
| 27 | Hackney | £2,007 | +4% |
| 28 | Hammersmith and Fulham | £2,025 | +5.2% |
| 29 | Camden | £2,063 | +1.6% |
| 30 | Islington | £2,189 | +7.1% |
| 31 | Westminster | £2,557 | +0.1% |
| 32 | Kensington and Chelseayou are here | £2,674 | +3.5% |
Common questions
How much is a 1 bedroom in Kensington and Chelsea?
A 1 bedroom property in Kensington and Chelsea rents for an average of £2,674 per month as of September 2026, according to the ONS Price Index of Private Rents — +3.5% compared with a year earlier.
Is a 1 bedroom in Kensington and Chelsea affordable on a local salary?
At £2,674 a month against median gross full-time pay of £4,281 for people living in Kensington and Chelsea, rent takes 62.5% of gross earnings. The commonly used affordability guideline is 30%. Note that earnings are before tax and National Insurance, and the earnings figure is for 2024.
How much has 1 bedroom rent risen in Kensington and Chelsea?
A 1 bedroom in Kensington and Chelsea has gone from £1,843 in 2021 to £2,674 today — up £831 a month, or 45.1%, in five years.
Is a 1 bedroom in Kensington and Chelsea cheaper than the London average?
No. It costs £910 a month more than the London average of £1,764, ranking 32nd cheapest of 32 boroughs (September 2026).
See what £2,674 actually gets you
Averages are a starting point. Browse what is genuinely available now, listed directly by their landlords.
Earnings data: GLA London Datastore — Earnings by Place of Residence, Borough (ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings). Median gross full-time weekly pay, by place of residence, 2024. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.