Council Plan 2023 to 2027

Our borough

A large rectangle graphic with a photo of a woman dressed in a Samba costume at Notting Hill Carnival. The photo is covered with a blue tint. This photo is the background of the graphic. At the bottom is a large light blue circle with white text that says “Carnival. Over one million people each year come to Notting Hill Carnival, the largest street festival in Europe.”

Culture

Kensington and Chelsea is a unique and diverse central London borough, which is rich in culture and heritage. With a population of almost 144,000 residents, the borough is home to residents of over 50 different nationalities who speak over 80 languages. Residents of Kensington and Chelsea have told us that they love and are proud of the mix of cultures and backgrounds in the area.

The borough hosts many nationally and internationally recognised cultural attractions like Notting Hill Carnival and Opera Holland Park. North Kensington is an area known around the world for its vibrant cultural heritage, musical authenticity, and proud history. Kensington Palace, the Victoria & Albert, Natural History, Science and Design Museums are just some of our landmark institutions, as well as world class retail stores and unique independent shops and markets, including the world-famous Portobello Market. People have told us they value the borough’s history, heritage and amenities.

As a central London borough Kensington and Chelsea has a large visitor economy with 136,000 jobs and nearly 16,000 businesses. We want to promote our borough, attracting the right types of jobs, investment, and facilities for our communities, while continuing to provide the conditions and support for existing businesses to succeed.

A graphic of two large circles and one small circle. The large circle is a photo of the Natural History Museum in London. The circle underneath has a blue background with white text that says “Culture. 7 theatres and 15 museums, including three of the most visited museums in the UK, the Natural History Museum, Science Museum, V&A and the Council owned Leighton House and Sambourne House. To the left-hand side of these two circles is a third, smaller, white circle with drawings of two theatre masks.

Heritage

Kensington and Chelsea is an area of huge social and cultural diversity, which includes significant differences in income, employment, and skills levels. Most employed residents are in highly skilled professional jobs, but the borough has areas where people are on low incomes, particularly in north Kensington and parts of the south and west of the borough.

The cost of housing means that deprivation is often concentrated in areas with a large proportion of social housing. While many residents in these areas face challenges, these are also areas bursting with creativity and community life. We have heard many ideas from residents in these communities about how the Council can work with them to provide support.

Overall, our borough continues to have the highest life expectancy in the country, however this varies between the north and the south, between people from different ethnic backgrounds, and between homeowners, private renters, and those in social housing. These existing inequalities have been exacerbated by the pandemic and rising cost of living. These challenges have resulted in our ongoing focus on fairness. While there are limits to the extent we can affect overall inequality, by focusing efforts on partnership and providing more joined up support in community settings, we can improve access to opportunities and ensure people have access to the help they need. We continue to make progress. We have more schools graded as outstanding than any other borough and attainment levels in our schools continue to be above national and London averages, with the most disadvantaged pupils outperforming their peers in other areas of the country.

A graphic of a large circle with a light blue background and white text that says “Tourism. Approximately twenty five thousand, Eight hundred visitors daily (during 2022).
A graphic of a large circle with a light blue background and white text that says “Historical. Over four thousand listed buildings and one hundred and seventy seven English Heritage Blue Plaques.

Living in the borough

With a median property price of £1.4 million, affordable housing is in short supply; there are around 20,000 homes for social rent in Kensington and Chelsea, which is unlikely ever to be enough to meet demand. Although the situation here is extreme, these same challenges are seen elsewhere in London. Increasing housing supply is a priority for local people, and while the Council cannot tackle this challenge alone, it remains committed to its target of building 600 new homes, of which at least 300 will be for social rent. Given the nature and size of the borough, increasing the amount of genuinely affordable housing will always be a challenge.

We have heard how valued our parks and open spaces are by all residents, so we will continue to invest in them. Alongside that, the Council is taking steps to help the community become greener. There are now 782 electric vehicle charging points in Kensington and Chelsea, and we are investing in our buildings and Council homes to continue to become more energy efficient.

As we look forward to celebrating, promoting, and improving our borough and alongside tackling these long-term complex challenges, we will listen to our residents and put our communities at the heart of everything we do.

 

Diversity in the borough

An animated infographic that shows a pie chart that spins once. After the pie chart has stopped spinning, blue text appears which says “Ethnicity. The borough is home to residents from many ethnicities.” The pie chart has segments in different colours with the ethnicities and their percentages within the borough. The ethnicities are White 64%, Arab 4%, Other 5%, Mixed 7%, Black 8% and Asian 12%.
An animated infographic that shows a Blue circle that spins once. After the circle has stopped spinning, white text appears which says “Diversity. Almost 144,000 residents live in Kensington and Chelsea, which is home to residents of over 50 different nationalities who speak over 80 languages.”
An animated infographic that shows a pie chart that spins once. After the pie chart has stopped spinning, blue text appears which says “Languages. Our borough is home to residents speaking over 80 languages. The most commonly spoken are:” The pie chart has segments in different colours with the languages and their percentages within the borough. The languages are English 76.4%, French 3.4%, Spanish 2.6%, Italian 2.5%, Arabic 2.3%.
An animated infographic that shows a Blue circle that spins once. After the circle has stopped spinning, white text appears which says “EU Population. 21, 060 residents are EU nationals. They make up 14.7% of our population.”
An animated infographic that shows a pie chart that spins once. After the pie chart has stopped spinning, blue text appears which says “Religion. The borough is home to residents belonging to a number of religions.” The pie chart has segments in different colours with the religions and their percentages within the borough. The religions are Christian 48.4%, No religion 24.8%, Muslim 11.8%, Not stated 10%, Jewish 1.9%, Buddhist 1.1%, Hindu 1.1%, Other 0.7%, Sikh 0.2%.
An animated infographic that shows a pie chart that spins once. After it stops spinning, blue text appears which says “Place of birth. Our borough is home to residents born in many parts of the world.” The chart is segmented in different colours with places of birth and their percentages within the borough. The places are United Kingdom 46.1%, EU 19.2%, British Overseas 0.1%, Others (including Oceania) 1.5%, Rest of Europe 4.9%, Africa 6.5%, The Americas and Caribbean 8.6%, Middle East and Asia 13.2%.

Last updated: 1 March 2023