Crime and Safety in Kensal Town, Kensington and Chelsea
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
The most common crimes in Kensal Town are violence and sexual offences, with 202 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 31. This is 4.3% lower than 2025's figure of 211 offences and a difference of 1.39 from 2025's crime rate of 32. Kensal Town's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 10 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 25% from 2025's figure of 8 crimes.
Kensal Town 2026 Crime Scorecard
20% lower, borough crime rate
London
33% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Kensington and Chelsea is 20% lower than London and 33% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Kensington and Chelsea Crime Rate Over Time
| Kensal Town | |
| Kensington and Chelsea | |
| London |
Kensal Town Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Kensal Town represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
Use Crime Map
Hover over a point to see a breakdown of crime types recorded at that location. You can also filter by individual crime types, or use a combinations of offences to visualise the data you need.
Introduction to Kensal Town's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Kensal Town up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Kensal Town's 29 postcodes using three area sizes for comparison:
- Within a Five-Minute Walk
- Within a Ten-Minute Walk
- Within a Fifteen-Minute Walk
Individual crime risk scores and index figures are for the 12-month period ending April 2026 unless otherwise stated.
Crime Risk Scores
Kensal Town • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Kensal Town has a crime risk score of 782. This is based on analysis of 29 nearby areas within Kensal Town, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.
Crime risk scores are on a scale of 1 to 1,000 and consider the severity of the crimes involved, as determined by sentencing guidelines. A score of 1 represents the lowest risk, and 1,000 the highest risk. This approach ensures that - unlike overall crime rate figures - bicycle theft is not given the same importance in Kensal Town's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Kensal Town, crime risk scores are typically around 782, while in Kensington and Chelsea they are average 676.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 797 (744 for Kensington and Chelsea), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 811 (Kensington and Chelsea 777).
Trends in Crime Risk
Kensal Town
Calculated via Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess, the Seasonality Adjusted line represents the original data with seasonality subtracted, and the Trend line has been plotted unadjusted. Overall trend direction has been identified using the Mann-Kendall trend test, and rate calculated from the slope of the best-fit line identified from linear regression.
The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 8% in Kensal Town's crime risk score. This is potentially a strong signal of how the crime risk is evolving. Cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Kensal Town's crime risk score is up by 8%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
Over the last year, Kensal Town's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 1.9%, indicating that the risk profile is going up. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Kensal Town
The CrimeRate Index shows how crime rates compare against the national average.
1.0 equals the average
2.0 is double
3.0 triple
0.5 is half and
0.25 a quarter.
Highest Crime Rates
Kensal Town • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Excluding other crime and other theft because their geographic location is often not relevant, anti-social behaviour as its definition is too wide, and bicycle theft for its specificity.
Possession of Weapons offences have a crime rate of 1.83 reports per 1,000 people in Kensal Town, which is 6.31 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 12 crime reports logged by Metropolitan Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Metropolitan Police recorded 47 reports of Theft From the Person in Kensal Town, resulting in a crime rate of 7.24 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 5.61.
The crime rate for Robbery is 4.34 times the national average at 4.30 reports per 1,000. This is from 28 crime reports reported to Metropolitan Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Kensal Town
Excluding other crime and other theft, anti-social behaviour, and bicycle theft, and calculated with the same STL method described in Trends in Crime Risk, using CrimeRate Index figures to identify crime types that are trending above or below the national average, and the analysis timeframe limited to the last three years.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.63 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 1.07 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 146% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.82 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 1.14 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 28% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Kensal Town
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Robbery offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Robbery CrimeRate Index was 1.78 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.
Public Order offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.60 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.98 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 63% over this timeframe.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.57 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 1.75 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 67% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Kensal Town • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Kensal Town | Kensington and Chelsea | London | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 201 | 30.91 | 2.19 | 4,985 | 27.30 | 1.93 | 235,985 | 21.68 | 1.53 |
| Bicycle Theft | 10 | 1.52 | 4.22 | 350 | 1.91 | 2.62 | 13,695 | 1.26 | 1.73 |
| Burglary | 40 | 6.16 | 1.97 | 1,221 | 6.68 | 2.13 | 47,359 | 4.34 | 1.39 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 34 | 5.22 | 0.83 | 1,036 | 5.67 | 0.90 | 54,098 | 4.99 | 0.79 |
| Drugs | 65 | 9.99 | 3.53 | 1,196 | 6.57 | 2.13 | 53,167 | 4.87 | 1.58 |
| Other Crime | 10 | 1.52 | 1.38 | 174 | 0.96 | 0.52 | 13,008 | 1.19 | 0.64 |
| Other Theft | 49 | 7.56 | 1.33 | 2,988 | 16.36 | 2.88 | 97,452 | 8.97 | 1.58 |
| Possession of Weapons | 12 | 1.83 | 6.31 | 126 | 0.68 | 0.80 | 6,443 | 0.60 | 0.71 |
| Public Order | 51 | 7.87 | 1.50 | 1,349 | 7.38 | 1.27 | 60,049 | 5.52 | 0.95 |
| Robbery | 28 | 4.30 | 4.34 | 595 | 3.27 | 2.77 | 30,804 | 2.83 | 2.40 |
| Shoplifting | 22 | 3.38 | 0.64 | 3,501 | 19.17 | 2.69 | 87,976 | 8.09 | 1.13 |
| Theft From the Person | 47 | 7.24 | 5.61 | 1,943 | 10.65 | 6.87 | 77,160 | 7.11 | 4.59 |
| Vehicle Crime | 52 | 8.00 | 1.86 | 2,156 | 11.82 | 2.75 | 81,755 | 7.50 | 1.74 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 202 | 31.07 | 1.02 | 5,201 | 28.48 | 0.94 | 273,434 | 25.12 | 0.83 |
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Total Crime by Year
Kensal Town | Kensington and Chelsea | London | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 622 | 95.66 | 1.42 | 21,836 | 119.60 | 1.66 | 896,400 | 82.39 | 1.14 |
| 2025 | 717 | 110.64 | 1.54 | 22,275 | 123.15 | 1.66 | 896,961 | 83.23 | 1.12 |
| 2024 | 690 | 107.75 | 1.50 | 23,287 | 127.36 | 1.69 | 900,986 | 84.38 | 1.12 |
| 2023 | 676 | 107.45 | 1.44 | 20,691 | 111.82 | 1.42 | 835,471 | 78.98 | 1.00 |
| 2022 | 650 | 104.50 | 1.41 | 19,521 | 105.46 | 1.37 | 795,646 | 75.77 | 0.99 |
| 2021 | 672 | 107.02 | 1.61 | 16,163 | 86.78 | 1.27 | 727,983 | 69.09 | 1.01 |
| 2020 | 697 | 108.42 | 1.56 | 21,939 | 116.50 | 1.57 | 819,467 | 77.66 | 1.05 |
| 2019 | 730 | 111.90 | 1.54 | 21,724 | 114.07 | 1.50 | 849,310 | 80.70 | 1.06 |
| 2018 | 794 | 120.13 | 1.75 | 21,262 | 110.85 | 1.56 | 810,063 | 77.08 | 1.08 |
| 2017 | 762 | 116.53 | 1.90 | 20,067 | 103.34 | 1.62 | 758,160 | 72.41 | 1.13 |
| 2016 | 204 | 31.38 | 1.81 | 5,907 | 30.29 | 1.59 | 234,565 | 22.42 | 1.18 |
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Kensal Town Compared to Other Kensington and Chelsea Neighbourhoods
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Neighbourhood | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| North Kensington | 2,174 | 110.01 | 15% more dangerous |
| Notting Hill | 5,803 | 174.42 | 82% more dangerous |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Crime in Kensington and Chelsea