If money was no object: The City is by far Londoners’ most desirable borough
One in five Londoners would want to live in the City, with the figure rising to 28% among those aged 18-34, according to new research shared exclusively with City A.M. today.
The Square Mile is closely followed by Kensington and Chelsea, with 18 per cent of Londoners choosing the leafy and exclusive borough as their most desired address, specialist mortgage lender Butterfield Mortgages found.
The firm asked the respondents where their dream location would be to purchase a property in London, if money was no object, with the City emerging as their dream borough.
The City of Westminster, occupying much of Greater London’s central area, including most of the West End, came third in Londoners’ list of dream neighbourhoods, chosen by 16 per cent.
Elsewhere, 9 per cent selected Greenwich as their ideal borough, with Hammersmith and Fulham emerging in fifth place, according to 6 per cent of Londoners.
| London’s most desirable boroughs | Number who chose it as their top location | |
| City of London (Blackfriars, Barbican, Bank and Aldgate) | 20% | |
| Kensington and Chelsea (Kensington, Chelsea, Notting Hill, Holland Park and Earl’s Court) | 18% | |
| City of Westminster (Maida Vale, Marylebone, Paddington, Marble Arch, Mayfair, Soho, Covent Garden, Belgravia, Westminster, Victoria and Pimlico) | 16% | |
| Greenwich (Greenwich, Woolwich, Eltham, Thamesmead and Plumstead) | 9% | |
| Hammersmith & Fulham (White City, Shepherd’s Bush, Baron’s Court, Hammersmith and Fulham) | 6% | |
| Tower Hamlets (Shoreditch, Whitechapel, South Hackney, Bow, Mile End, Limehouse, Poplar, Canary Wharf) | 5% | |
| Camden (Hampstead, Camden, Euston, King’s Cross, Fitzrovia and Holborn) | 5% | |
| Wandsworth (Battersea, Wandsworth, Balham and Tooting Bec) | 4% | |
| Southwark (Southwark, Borough, Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Peckham, Camberwell, Herne Hill and East Dulwich) | 4% | |
| Lewisham (Deptford, Blackheath, Catford, Brockley, Honor Oak, Forest Hill and Sydenham) | 4% | |
| Islington (Archway, Holloway, Highbury, Islington and Clerkenwell) | 4% | |
| Lambeth (Lambeth, Waterloo, South Bank, Vauxhall, Clapham, Brixton and Streatham) | 3% | |
| Hackney (Shoreditch, Hackney, Hoxton, Haggerston, Dalston, Stoke Newington and Clapton) | 2% |
Alpa Bhakta, CEO of Butterfield Mortgages, said this afternoon that “crucially, our research counters the rhetoric about the ‘demise of the city’ and the ‘great escape’ to the suburbs.”
Bhakta told City A.M. that “in fact, prime city living has evidently retained its appeal among Londoners, with the prime Central London boroughs of the City, Chelsea and Kensington, and Westminster all emerging as clear favourites when it comes to their dream locations.”
“With the capital once again open for business and the lure of urban life increasingly shining through, we expect PCL to remain the jewel in the crown of the UK’s booming property market.”