London’s most in-demand areas lie outside the banana
As the viral ‘London banana’ map continues to stir debate over the capital’s most desirable areas, new data from Rightmove reveals the top ten most in-demand London hotspots.
The banana may be appealing but the real action is happening outside the peel, with eight out of ten hotspots falling outside the banana – a curved corridor of highly desirable areas stretching from South West to North East London.
Affordability could be a key factor. Seven of the ten hotspots have average asking prices below the London average of £666,983, suggesting buyers are prioritising value alongside location.
Islington in North London and Battersea in Wandsworth are the only two hotspots located in the banana.
The top three most in-demand neighbourhoods outside the peel are Docklands and Hackney in East London, followed by Sutton in the South.
Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert, adds, “While the viral banana map has captured imaginations, our recent data shows that buyers are drawn to areas outside its curve. Affordability is a key driver, with many of the most in-demand locations offering better value than the London average.
“It’s a reminder that buyer interest doesn’t always follow the trend, it follows the opportunity.”
Top 10 most in-demand locations for homebuyers in London
| Ranking | Location | Borough | Average price |
| 1 | Docklands | Tower Hamlets | £551,551 |
| 2 | Hackney | Hackney | £671,717 |
| 3 | Islington | Islington | £818,293 |
| 4 | Sutton | Sutton | £496,748 |
| 5 | Walthamstow | Walthamstow | £534,159 |
| 6 | Orpington | Bromley | £593,478 |
| 7 | Romford | Havering | £424,076 |
| 8 | Croydon | Croydon | £395,423 |
| 9 | Bromley | Bromley | £575,922 |
| 10 | Battersea | Wandsworth | £992,370 |
ENDS
About Rightmove
- Rightmove has the UK’s largest selection of properties for sale and to rent, adds more listings than anyone else, and over 80% of all time spent on property portals is on Rightmove.
- Rightmove’s vision is to give everyone the belief that they can make their move by giving people the best place to turn and return to for access to tools and expertise to make it happen.
- People can search Rightmove for residential resale, new homes, rentals, commercial property and overseas properties and use tools and information including getting a Mortgage in Principle, checking local sold prices, property valuations, market trends, maps and schools.
- Customers include the following key groups: estate agents, lettings agents, new homes developers, rental operators, commercial property operators and overseas property agents and financial services operators
- Using the UK’s largest housing datasets, we issue a number of regular reports to track housing market indicators: our monthly House Price Index (established 2002), quarterly Rental Trends Tracker (established 2015), weekly Mortgage Rates Tracker (established 2023) and quarterly Commercial Insights Tracker (established 2024). Historical data is available on request
- Founded in 2000, Rightmove listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2006 and is a member of the FTSE 100 index.
- For more information, please visit www.rightmove.co.uk/claims
You may also like
Contact our press team
Email: press@rightmove.co.uk
Financial PR team
Sodali: Rob Greening / Elly Williamson
Tel: 0207 250 1446
Email: rightmove@sodali.com