Croydon has the highest property wealth in London when taking into account the total value of its assets, research has shown.
Rankings drawn up by emoov reveal the borough has £77.2bn in property wealth, putting it significantly ahead of second-placed Richmond Upon Thames, which has £58.7bn-worth of assets.
Kensington and Chelsea is traditionally crowned the most expensive area in London, with the highest average house price - £1,406,839 – and a cost per square metre of £9,110.
But using data on the surface area of each London borough taken up by domestic residential property and gardens, alongside the cost of property per square metre, the total value of residential property in Kensington and Chelsea comes to £41.3bn.
The rest of the emoov top five is made up of Richmond upon Thames (£58.7bn). Barnet (£49.5bn), Bromley (£43.5bn) and Westminster (£42.2bn), with Kensington and Chelsea in sixth place.
Local Authority Name | Total Area of Residential Buildings & Gardens (m2) | Price per m2 (£) | Total Value of Residential Property |
Croydon | 35,920,000 | £2,150 | £77,228,000,000 |
Richmond upon Thames | 15,456,000 | £3,800 | £58,732,800,000 |
Barnet | 31,546,000 | £1,570 | £49,527,220,000 |
Bromley | 43,109,000 | £1,010 | £43,540,090,000 |
Westminster | 4,525,000 | £9,330 | £42,218,250,000 |
Kensington and Chelsea | 4,535,000 | £9,110 | £41,313,850,000 |
Greenwich | 15,202,000 | £2,440 | £37,092,880,000 |
Enfield | 23,782,000 | £1,550 | £36,862,100,000 |
Southwark | 8,402,000 | £4,110 | £34,532,220,000 |
Kingston upon Thames | 14,862,000 | £2,280 | £33,885,360,000 |
Harrow | 22,192,000 | £1,480 | £32,844,160,000 |
Hillingdon | 27,223,000 | £1,160 | £31,578,680,000 |
Hammersmith and Fulham | 5,518,000 | £5,680 | £31,342,240,000 |
Wandsworth | 12,146,000 | £2,450 | £29,757,700,000 |
Lambeth | 11,171,000 | £2,540 | £28,374,340,000 |
Sutton | 19,254,000 | £1,460 | £28,110,840,000 |
Islington | 5,185,000 | £5,200 | £26,962,000,000 |
Ealing | 19,737,000 | £1,280 | £25,263,360,000 |
Lewisham | 15,489,000 | £1,480 | £22,923,720,000 |
Camden | 6,834,000 | £3,330 | £22,757,220,000 |
Merton | 13,960,000 | £1,600 | £22,336,000,000 |
Havering | 27,649,000 | £730 | £20,183,770,000 |
Redbridge | 20,713,000 | £890 | £18,434,570,000 |
Bexley | 22,897,000 | £750 | £17,172,750,000 |
Brent | 18,160,000 | £800 | £14,528,000,000 |
Hounslow | 16,405,000 | £880 | £14,436,400,000 |
Waltham Forest | 13,849,000 | £935 | £12,948,815,000 |
Haringey | 12,082,000 | £1,040 | £12,565,280,000 |
Hackney | 6,045,000 | £2,070 | £12,513,150,000 |
Newham | 10,326,000 | £1,020 | £10,532,520,000 |
Barking and Dagenham | 11,501,000 | £800 | £9,200,800,000 |
Tower Hamlets | 3,656,000 | £1,900 | £6,946,400,000 |
London (Average) | 16,229,094 | £2,401 | £28,332,671,406 |
Chief executive Russell Quirk said: “Kensington and Chelsea certainly rules the roost where the premium price tag and cost to individual home buyers are concerned, but as this research shows, it isn’t the wealthiest in terms of the sheer quantity of the property assets located across the borough.
“When taking into account the size of each borough's property portfolio it provides an alternative look at which parts of London are home to the greatest accumulation of property wealth.
“Of course, the outer boroughs of London dominate as these are the locations that allow a larger ground area to be allotted to a residential purpose, but it is the recent trend of homeowners forsaking the inner city and looking to these more affordable outer boroughs that have seen prices increase there, and in turn, push them up these rankings.”
Alex Reynolds, IFA at London-based Advies Private Clients, said: “It is relatively surprising, but based on the way they have done the calculation, if it is a bigger borough, then clearly it will hold more housing stock.
“I know that Croydon is popular because I see people buying houses there. I think that certainly people are much happier to live on the outskirts than the zone one area because it is more affordable, and the shopping has vastly improved over the past 15 years.”
simon.allin@ft.com