Zoopla’s 2018 Rich List reveals Britain’s most expensive streets

Kensington Palace Gardens (W8) holds the title for the priciest road in Britain, according to Zoopla’s 2018 ‘Rich List’.

The property website’s list of the costliest streets in Britain – based on average house prices – showed that while Kensington Palace Gardens is still the richest street, the average price has continued to fall for the second year running, down to £35,647,605 – £1,301,983 less than this time last year.

Just a stone’s throw away from the royals at Kensington Palace, the prestigious address is home to some of Britain’s wealthiest homeowners, including Formula One heiress Tamara Ecclestone and Chelsea F.C. owner Roman Abramovich.

Exclusive enclaves in the capital dominate the rest of the UK’s top streets. However, all of the top 10 have declined in value over the past year, with £4,605,215 being wiped off the total average house price from the top 10.

Grosvenor Crescent (SW1X) remains in second place, with an average property value of £21,738,111. Courtney Avenue (N6) came in third place, up from fourth last year, with an average property value of £21,054,602.

Outside of the capital, Montrose Gardens in Leatherhead (Surrey) tops the list for the most expensive street in Britain’s largest counties, with an average property value of £5,923,253 – down from £6,044,860 in 2017. Phillippines Shaw in Sevenoaks (Kent) comes in second place, with an average value of £4,112,413, beating Robins Next Hill in Hertford (Hertfordshire) in third place (£3,782,579).

On a regional basis, 91.2% of streets with an average property price of £1 million-plus are found in Southern England. What’s more, of the 17,289 total £1 million streets in Britain, 6,491 (37.5%) are in the South East.

Greater London closely follows with 5,843 (33.8%) and the East of England places third with 2,679 (15.5%). On the other hand, Northern England, Wales and Scotland have far fewer expensive streets – Wales is home to just 33, while the North East of England has 97 and Scotland has 161.

Consequently, 19 of the top 20 towns with the most £1 million-plus streets can all be found in Southern England, with Altrincham in Manchester the only place to buck the trend. Excluding London, Reading comes out on top with 242 £1 million-plus streets, followed by Guilford in Surrey (230) and Sevenoaks, Kent (218).

Lawrence Hall, spokesperson for Zoopla, said that London’s ‘sheer desirability’ allows it to still dominate the rich list despite the recent troubles of the capital’s property market.  

“While the capital may be home to the most expensive streets, it’s the South East region that takes the top spot for the highest volume of streets with an average value of £1 million or more, perhaps due to the rising cost of London’s commuter-belt areas,” he added.