Universal Credit Rates Double in Kensington Despite It Being One Of London’s Richest Boroughs

KENSINGTON - One of London’s richest boroughs has seen a huge spike in Universal Credit applications since the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of people applying for Universal Credit in Kensington and Chelsea has doubled following the pandemic.

In the royal borough, 4,263 residents had applied for the benefit before the start of the pandemic in February 2020. Now over 9,000 people are applying for it.

A total of 9,153 people applied for UC in the borough in April 2021 – latest Department for Work and Pensions figures show.

There are 165 households on Universal Credit with children under the age of one while 26 families on Universal Credit in the borough are supporting five or more children.

Image: Kensington - one of the wealthyist boroughs in the UK. 

ABC Note: The average salary in Kensington is £123,000 – the highest in the UK.

The median salary – the centre point of all salaries in the area – is £32,700.

The median shows the huge gap in salaries – the mean is pulled up by the really high salaries at the top. No other local authority in the country has such a large gap between high and low earners

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