This well-to-do area covers the iconic neighbourhood of Notting Hill. The streets are mostly lined with pastel-coloured Georgian terraced houses, but large council housing estates are also sprinkled throughout the neighbourhood. An idyllic pocket of West London, residents and visitors are both attracted to the area. Visiting on a Saturday, there are almost too many options for things to do. With the antique market on Portobello Road, or the independent shops and pubs that line the street, it’s no wonder people flock towards the area. Even weekdays, albeit calmer, have a unique energy to them. Residents love celebrating special occasions at Core by Clare Smyth, one of London’s top restaurants, and later strolling through the local gardens of the area. Between all of this, and its top schools and great transport connections, Notting Hill is a favourite among Londoners.

This area’s main street, Portobello Road, was initially just a winding country path, leading to Porto Bello Farm. As the area developed into a more residential and suburban neighbourhood, Portobello Road served as a major connection between Notting Hill and Kensal Green. By the 1800s, wealthy residents had slowly started to move into the area, leading to the building of crescents and elegant homes. This was quickly followed by the introduction of the Metropolitan Railway in the 1860s, which then brought in a more working-class population. By the 1940s, the local Portobello Market had shifted from a produce market to one where the local workers came to sell their used belongings and bric-a-brac. Decades later, in the late twentieth century, the area began to shed its rough working-class character and become more gentrified. Today, it is seen as one of the posher West London neighbourhoods.

It wasn’t until the 1999 film Notting Hill was released that the neighbourhood grew to its current fame, bringing in international visitors. The neighbourhood’s Electric Cinema, an Edwardian grade II-listed building, is over 100 years old and was one of Britain’s first buildings devoted to motion pictures.

Notting Hill Carnival is one of the neighbourhood’s oldest and most famous annual events, though it has been flagged for its lack of public safety precautions in recent years. Compared to the negligence surrounding the recent tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, the official warnings about the carnival’s overcrowding have been overlooked by borough officials, putting the event at high risk for accidents in the future. Still, Londoners who attend this event take such pride in the carnival and its continued growth proves the strength of the city’s Afro-Caribbean community.

In the 1950s and 1960s, when the council began to clear out previous slums, they began to build council estates throughout the neighbourhood. As the area has further gentrified, Kensington and Chelsea council has earmarked multiple estates for regeneration and demolition. However, it’s still unclear how much these regeneration projects will make sure to retain space for affordable housing units in the neighbourhood. A controversial example of these estate regenerations is the Portobello Square development, which was approved in 2013 and is still ongoing. This multi-phase development has already seen part of its masterplan completed on the site of the Wornington Green estate, which was partially demolished for the project. The rest of the estate is still at risk of demolition as the Portobello Square development now enters its next stage of expansion. Developers have stated that the project would deliver nearly 1,000 new homes with no loss of social housing, though the jury is still up on how demographics in the area will be impacted. The development does, however, offer houses in the area at much lower prices than one would expect in a neighbourhood as gentrified as Notting Hill, with prices in Bond Mansions, the name of the project’s latest development phase, starting at £645,000 for its one- and two-bedroom flats.