Kensington News
The latest Kensington news: planning decisions, council and crime updates, business and community stories, each linked back to its official source.
Top story
North Pole Road death: two charged with murder
Two charged with murdering Kariem Abdelhalim, 24, who died on North Pole Road, North Kensington, on 25 September. Police still want witnesses to come forward.
More stories
Food
Kensington food hygiene: all 69 September ratings were 5s
All 69 Kensington and Chelsea food premises rated in September scored 5. Thai Rice on Portobello Road now holds the borough's only zero, given in August.
South Kensington
V&A South Kensington Strike: What's Open 25 and 26 Sep
Only the Schiaparelli show, the café and some ground floor galleries are open at the V&A on 25 and 26 September while Prospect and PCS staff strike.
Kensington
Kensington parking wardens: council pays to avert strike
Kensington and Chelsea will fund a three-year pay deal for its parking wardens to head off a repeat of the 2023 strike. The cost is exempt from publication.
Kensington
Kensington libraries review: your say closes 17 November
The council is asking what its libraries should do next, and its own page says money is why. The survey closes 17 November, with forums from 13 October.
South Kensington
South Kensington mirrors: both her parents had dementia
Dineo's father had young onset Alzheimer's at 58. Her mother's symptoms were mistaken for grief. Her own account of both diagnoses, told in full.
West Kensington
West Kensington heart surgery fund reaches £75,725
Roshan Sohi, 24, needs an operation his surgeon says should happen within a month. The NHS wait is nine to twelve months. The appeal is at £75,725.
South Kensington
South Kensington station step-free work starts by December
TfL intends to award the South Kensington step-free contract to Costain. First work starts at 34 Thurloe Street before the end of 2026, the station by 2031.
South Kensington
South Kensington tube: six Alzheimer's mirrors to 4 Oct
Six mirrors sit before the ticket barriers until Sunday 4 October, asking commuters whether the first person cured of Alzheimer's is standing beside them.
Planning
Notting Hill Gate: shops cut 681 sq m, offices up 332
Councillors approved revised Newcombe House drawings on 15 September: 681 sq m less shop space, 332 sq m more office, a medical centre 9 sq m over minimum.
House prices
Kensington flats hit £971,688, lowest since June 2013
The average Kensington and Chelsea flat sold for £971,688 in July, the first month under £1m since 2013. June has been revised back above the line.
Policing
139 Met officers graduate in Kensington: 6 impact awards
Six impact awards, three winners and three runners-up, went to Met officers at the Kensington ceremony on 11 September that ended their two-year programme.
Council
Kensington NCIL: £3.16m for local projects, ward by ward
Residents can now bid for NCIL money at any time. Brompton and Hans Town holds £1.12m, Golborne just £8,625. See your ward's total and how to apply.
Kensington
Kensington council cuts: £108m, have your say by 4 Oct
The council says it loses £108m over four years and wants residents behind its appeal by Sunday 4 October. Ministers give a different reason.
Kensington
Kensington sniffer dogs: 1,514 illicit items seized in a day
Three spaniels worked shops in Notting Hill Gate, Ladbroke Grove and South Kensington on 2 September: 1,514 items taken, and no formal action decided yet.
Food
Kensington Food Hygiene: No Zero Ratings, 16 Below 3
Not one of the borough's 1,831 rated food businesses holds a zero. Sixteen sit at 1 or 2, and 87.9% score five, the best of five west London boroughs.
Chelsea
Chelsea Winter Village: Ranelagh Gardens Shut From 17 Nov
Ranelagh Gardens closes to the public from 17 November until the site is handed back on 5 January. Trail tickets start at £18, the village itself is free.
Notting Hill
Carnival clean-up: free basement clean, book by 10 Sept
Households in the Carnival area can book a free basement and frontage clean until 5pm on Thursday 10 September. The council cleared more than 300 tonnes of waste over two nights.
South Kensington
Freddie Mercury V&A display: free, no ticket, 24 October
The Freddie Mercury trail opens at V&A South Kensington on Saturday 24 October: eight stage looks, free, no ticket, walk in any day 10am to 5.45pm.
Knightsbridge
Hans Crescent works begin by Harrods, done by autumn 2026
Work has started on Hans Crescent outside Harrods, finishing autumn 2026. Ward councillors put in £320,000; nine of the 20 the council asked said no.
Schools
Ofsted praises Kensington children in care, names 2 fixes
Ofsted says children in Kensington and Chelsea's care feel happy, safe and settled, but names two fixes: supervision records and plans for older children.
Schools
Kensington Park School company in liquidation, term 7 Sept
Kensington Park School Limited entered creditors' voluntary liquidation on 20 August, 18 days before term is due to start. Its website still advertises places.
House prices
Kensington house prices June 2026: figures revised up
We reported June's flat average as £991,929, under £1m. Land Registry has since revised June up to £1,003,947. The correction and the July figures are below.
Jobs
Kensington claimant count falls to 3,565: Dalgarno is 7.2%
Kensington and Chelsea's claimant count fell to 3,565 in July, joint fourth lowest of 33 London boroughs. Inside it, Dalgarno's rate is eight times Campden's.
Enforcement
Kensington street trading fines: 12 in a week, £150 each
Officers issued 12 fixed penalty notices in a week on Basil Street and Exhibition Road, and now patrol seven days a week. Each fine is £150.
Council tax
Kensington mansion tax: £2,500 to £7,500 a year from 2028
Homes worth £2m or more pay £2,500 to £7,500 a year from April 2028. Kensington's average terraced house is already above the line, at £2.37m.
Notting Hill Carnival
Notting Hill Carnival 2026 Road Closures: Open 6am Tuesday
Roads inside the Carnival area are shut from 6am on Sunday 30 August to 6am on Tuesday 1 September. No bin collections on 31 August or 1 September.
Schools
Kensington A-level results 2026: 71% A*-B across the borough
71% of A-level grades at Kensington and Chelsea schools were A* to B this summer, up from 67%. Holland Park posted 50% at A* or A. School-by-school figures.
Roads
Supercars seized in Kensington: 90 cars, £8m, one weekend
Police seized 90 vehicles worth over £8m across Kensington, Chelsea and Hyde Park in one weekend, days after a High Court order banned car meets until 2027.
Community
North Kensington charity gives away a million books in a year
The Children's Book Project passed a million books gifted in twelve months from its Golborne Road base. Its own running total now stands at 2,778,400.