An economic analysis of London Boroughs, undertaken by property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), has revealed Kingston Upon Thames is the best place to work and live in 2023.
Harrow was second-highest placed in the index, followed by Richmond Upon Thames, Westminster and Brent.
The inaugural London Vitality Index assesses the qualities of each of the capital’s 32 boroughs and the City of London, to identify which are the best places to work and live, with the strongest growth prospects. Each location was ranked on three pillars: economy & business; living; and health & environment.
Kingston scores well across all three pillars, but its standout performance is in the living pillar, where it achieves top place bolstered by high scores for educational achievement and house price growth. It also places fifth for health & environment, with the borough boasting some of the lowest cardiovascular mortality and crime rates in London, alongside high recycling rates and a large supply of green space.
Even Kingston’s weakest pillar, economy & business, sees it score well above the London average with one of the highest GVA growth forecasts.
Harrow may be one of London’s lesser sung boroughs, but its second place overall is well deserved as it scores highly across multiple measures. Placing first in the health & environment pillar, Harrow boasts one of the best life satisfaction scores across the capital and low crime rates. Meanwhile, a second-place finish in the living pillar is underpinned by robust house price growth in 2022 and low retail vacancy rates.
As one of London’s well established affluent boroughs, Richmond upon Thames’ high overall ranking is built primarily on a third-place finish in the health & environment pillar. The borough benefits from an abundance of green space including Richmond Park, the largest of London’s royal parks. It also scores well in this pillar due to having the lowest crime rate in London and a low cardiovascular mortality rate. On top on this, Richmond was sixth in the living pillar, boosted by high levels of educational attainment and affluent households.
The ranking is split into three distinct pillars comprising economy & business, living and health & environment, drawing on a total of 18 datasets. By incorporating a varied range of indicators, the index takes a holistic approach to the assessment of the vitality of the boroughs.
The results reflect both the established strengths of individual boroughs, as well as the impact that recent events such as the pandemic have had on the demographics and economics of the capital.
Locations to the west of London have a heavy presence in the higher reaches of the overall ranking with boroughs such as Merton, Ealing and Hillingdon also bubbling under just outside the Top 5. Not surprisingly, central locations generally draw the greatest strength from economy & business metrics, while outer boroughs score higher for health & environment.
Based on economic metrics alone, unsurprisingly both Westminster and the City of London are stand-out performers, achieving top scores for enterprise creation, business density, GVA per capita and commercial property investment.
Tower Hamlets, home to the Canary Wharf office district, is placed third in this pillar. Sharing many of the same strengths as the top two, Tower Hamlets’ best metrics are GVA per capita and GVA growth forecasts.
Islington also makes the Top 5, buoyed by a strong creative industry presence and achieving high marks for new enterprises, business density and jobs growth. The final location in the Top 5, and the only one south of the river, is Southwark which boasts a high level of job creation, particularly in the accountancy, consultancy and government sectors.
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