Prices plunge in poshest parts of London

Residential property prices in some of London’s most prestigious boroughs shrank sharply during the pandemic, according to official data. In the year to March 2021, the median price in Westminster, the City of London and Kensington and Chelsea fell by an annual rate varying from 2.3% to 14%, according to the Office for National Statistics. The fall is in marked contrast to the rest of England and Wales, where prices rose by 11% over the same period. Prices dropped in only a dozen of the 332 local authorities while more than 80 local authorities, mostly outside London, registered double-digit growth. Brentwood in Essex, the Isle of Wight, and South Hams in Devon all registered growth rates above 15%. The FT (£)