Kensington Area

Kensington Area

If you are thinking of moving to the London Borough of Kensington or the Kensington area or visiting Kensington then we hope you find our view and review of the Kensington area interesting.

We are chartered surveyors, so our view of Kensington may be a bit property biased, but would you expect us to be anything else but property biased! We carry out surveys all over London , including building surveys, structural surveys, engineers reports, of course we are happy to carry them out in Kensington. We have tried to put other interesting non-property facts about Kensington and the Kensington area, many of which we don't think you will find anywhere else on the Internet.

Advert for independent chartered surveyors

We have independent chartered surveyors who carry out building surveys, structural surveys and defects reports in Kensington and are very experienced and will give you peace of mind for your new home or commercial property. We also deal with Schedules of Dilapidation and Schedules of Conditions and act for you whether you are the Landlord or Tenant. If you want property advice then please contact us on free phone 0800 298 5424.

Kensington, a bit of fun

If you can read these articles in the sprit they were written; that they were written for people that don't know the area. We would be more than happy to add any comments from the Kensington area and also comments from Kensington locals who feel that we've missed out any important facts, or indeed if any of the facts we have put down are not accurate.

Where in London is Kensington?

Kensington and the Kensington area is in West London , or to be more accurate in the South West Corner of the City Centre of London. This is a very desirable area to live and surrounding and neighbouring areas include Hammersmith Westminster, Brent and Wandsworth in fact Chelsea is now a part of Kensington.  Kensington is one of 13 inner London boroughs. 

To the north are Notting Hill, Maida Vale, Maida Hill, Ladbroke Grove, Kilburn, St John's Wood, Paddington and Bayswater. To the east are Hyde Park, Mayfair, The Strand, Marylebone, Soho, Pimlico, Chelsea and Ladbroke. To the south is Fulham, Battersea, Earls Court , Clapham, Parsons Green, Wandsworth. To the west are Hammersmith, West Kensington, Shepherds Bush, Chiswick, Wormwood Scrubs Park , North Acton and Park Royal.

We carry out surveys, structural surveys and building surveys on all sorts of buildings all over London and we have carried out lots in the Kensington area.

A bit further afield

A bit further afield are Fulham, Battersea, Barnes, Kew, Acton , Ealing, Cricklewood, Holloway, Islington and Nine Elms.

Google Maps helped us a lot for the information on this, as well as local knowledge.

Ways to travel in the Kensington area

As with most areas of London you need to pay a congestion charge and the road system is always guaranteed traffic when travelling at rush hour, with the duel carriageway on the A4 providing access into West End London and into Heathrow, which also goes past Chiswick and Hammersmith, and past the M4 flyover. 

The M25 isn't that far away, with the M40 and M4 coming towards Kensington. The M4 becomes the A4 and the Great Western Road and the M40 becomes the A40, Western Avenue and West Way, running into the Kensington area, with the A3220, which is the West Cross route. Holland Park and Warwick Road are also main roads in the Kensington area, as are Bayswater Road , which is also the A40, the A308, which is Finsbury Road , the A308, which is the Fulham Road and the A3218, which is Lille Road and Old Brompton Road .

It has the following tube stations in the area: Kensington, Notting Hill, North Kensington, Earls Court , High Street Kensington, West Kensington, Kensington Olympia, Holland Park , Notting Hill Gate, Queensway, Lancaster Gate, Gloucester Road, South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Hyde Park Corner.

There are railway stations at Marylebone, Paddington and Charing Cross .

This area is also covered by the excellent Google Street View, which helped us a lot. You can literally walk along the roads in this area using Street View.

Interesting facts we know about the Kensington area

Interesting fact about Kensington number one

Royals first moved into Kensington after 1689 when William III moved into Kensington Palace . After this point the area was resided by many famous monarchs and royals who used it as a place of permanent residency, they were lucky in those days when they didn't have to pay to park outside their own homes!  (It is rumoured that our surveyors have cups of tea in the area and they know Kensington High Street is a good place to visit, particularly if you like expensive clothes and shoes, but they also get parking tickets in the area!)

Interesting fact about Kensington number two

Kensington has interesting buildings and some fascinating architecture and styles available in London .  It contains a range of houses, including Georgian and Regency properties and buildings using stucco and terracotta brick.

Interesting fact about Kensington number three

Also it is rumoured in Kensington there is Kensington Gardens , which are 280 acres, formerly part of Hyde Park . It has fantastic trees, the gardens was a setting for the royal family, which later had an adoring statue of Peter Pan built inside it.

Interesting fact about Kensington number four

Harrods shopping centre is located in the area.

Kensington History

Kensington gained its name from Anglo Saxon Times who were original settlers and it is rumoured was known as the village of Keen Victory 's People.

During the 19 th Century there was an expansion of buildings and development south and west towards Earls Court in Kensington. Many 16 th and 17 th century buildings still survive today in the area. They are of a great variety and types of architectural styles existent in these buildings, such as brick and stucco, Regency terraces, Georgian, and large inspired brick and terracotta homes.

Famous people that were born, have lived, or are living in Kensington

There are many famous residents and ex-residents of the Kensington area, mainly because Kensington Palace is just up the road.  We also heard a rumour that that Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace , she reigned the monarch for 63 years and ruled many countries around the world. 

Famous buildings we have not surveyed!

The Royal Albert Hall Museum at Kensington, which is worth a visit for its many sculptures and art.

The University of Imperial College and Royal College Art in Mill Hill, Olympia Exhibition Hall where you have all those boring exhibitions!

Unfortunately we haven't been able to come up with any other really famous buildings in the Kensington area, so anyone who knows any please phone or e-mail us, we are sure we can sort out some sort of prize.

We would add that as with many areas of London it has a mass of Victorian and Georgian houses, which may up a lot of the housing stock in the area, with some newer developments for the after war building took place, replacing bomb damaged houses and some housing with 1960 post-war built houses. We are more than happy to carry out building surveys, structural surveys, engineers reports on these properties to give you a clear idea of any problems that you may be buying when you buy your new house.

Things to do in Kensington

In Kensington Shopping is excellent as anywhere in London . There are the famous High Streets of Kings Road and Kensington High Street, which contain Luxury Department Stores such as Harvey Nicholls and Harrods, just off Brompton Road .

There is a famous market in Portobello Road , based on a slope where we have had many parking tickets, however the road has many boutiques for shopping of unusual items.

There are a range of cafes and bars in the Kensington and the Kensington area that have a very good atmosphere.  

There are a lot of pubs in the Kensington and Kensington area, the bars around Earls Court are particularly popular with Surveyors and the tourists!

Independent Chartered Surveyors

If you truly do want an independent expert opinion from a chartered surveyor, and many of us are also chartered builders, with regard to valuations, mortgages, mortgage companies, surveys, building surveys, structural reports, engineers reports, specific defects report, structural surveys, home buyers reports or any other property matters please contact 0800 298 5424 for a chartered surveyor to give you a call back.

Commercial property independent chartered surveyors advice

If you have a commercial property, whether it is freehold or leasehold then sooner or later you may get involved with dilapidation claims. You may wish to look at our Dilapidations Website at www.DilapsHelp.com and for Disputes go to our Disputes Help site www.DisputesHelp.com .

We hope you found the article of use and if you have any experiences that you feel should be added to this article that would benefit others, or you feel that some of the information that we have put is wrong then please do not hesitate to contact us (we are only human).

The contents of the web site are for general information only and is not intended to be relied upon for specific or general decisions. Appropriate independent professional advice should be paid for before making such a decision.

All rights are reserved the contents of the web site is not to be reproduced or transmitted in any form in whole or part without the express written permission of www.1stAssociated.co.uk.