Where is Royal College of Art?

Kensington Campus is at Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU.

What is the cheapest area to live near Royal College of Art?

Of the areas Boroughly covers near Kensington Campus, Harlesden has the lowest estimated monthly room rent at around £850. The cheapest rent is not always the cheapest option once travel is included.

Boroughly · Universities · Royal College of Art

London · Kensington Campus

Best areas to live for Royal College of Art students

In short: The RCA has London sites in Kensington, Battersea and White City; Kensington is its historic central campus. Across the 12 areas below, an estimated room runs from about £850 a month in Harlesden to £1,725 in Kensington.

Campus

Kensington Campus

Postcode

SW7 2EU

Areas ranked

Cheapest room

Harlesden · £850

Where the campus actually is

Kensington Campus · Kensington Gore, London SW7 2EU

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors · open larger map

Check your site before you sign. RCA also teaches from Battersea (SW11 4AY), White City (W12 7FG). This page ranks areas around Kensington Campus. If your department is elsewhere, the answer changes.

12 areas ranked by what a room costs

Cheapest first. These are the Boroughly areas within reach of Kensington Campus, with a per-room rate for a shared house and a self-contained studio rate for each.

Areas near campus ranked by monthly room rent, cheapest first
#	Area	Roomper month	Studioper month	To campusdoor to door	Route	Late nights
1	HarlesdenBrent · 6.7 km from campus	£850^†	£1,250^†	51 min	Bakerloo line → Mildmay → bus 9	Night buses only - the nearest Night Tube or night Overground station is a bus or taxi ride away.
2	ActonEaling · 6.6 km from campus	£925^†	£1,375^†	48 min	bus E3 → District line → bus 9	Central and Piccadilly line Night Tube (Fri/Sat); night buses every night
3	WillesdenBrent · 7.0 km from campus	£925^†	£1,375^†	54 min	14 min walk → Jubilee line → bus 9	Jubilee line Night Tube (Fri/Sat); night buses every night
4	EarlsfieldWandsworth · 6.6 km from campus	£1,025^†	£1,475^†	46 min	South Western Railway → District line → bus 360	Night buses only - the nearest Night Tube or night Overground station is a bus or taxi ride away.
5	FulhamH&F · 3.0 km from campus	£1,200^†	£1,750^†	29 min	8 min walk → District line → bus 360	Night buses only - the nearest Night Tube or night Overground station is a bus or taxi ride away.
6	HammersmithH&F · 3.2 km from campus	£1,200^†	£1,750^†	25 min	bus 9	Piccadilly line Night Tube (Fri/Sat); night buses every night
7	Maida ValeWestminster · 2.9 km from campus	£1,250^†	£1,825^†	43 min	9 min walk → bus 46 → Circle line	Night buses only - the nearest Night Tube or night Overground station is a bus or taxi ride away.
8	PaddingtonWestminster · 1.6 km from campus	£1,350^†	£1,975^†	25 min	Circle line → bus 360	Night buses only - the nearest Night Tube or night Overground station is a bus or taxi ride away.
9	Notting HillK&C · 2.2 km from campus	£1,500^†	£2,200^†	29 min	11 min walk → bus Y52	Central line Night Tube (Fri/Sat); night buses every night
10	MaryleboneWestminster · 2.8 km from campus	£1,600^†	£2,350^†	35 min	bus 2 → bus Y52	Jubilee and Central line Night Tube (Fri/Sat); night buses every night
11	ChelseaK&C · 1.7 km from campus	£1,675^†	£2,425^†	19 min	11 min walk → bus 360	Night buses only - the nearest Night Tube or night Overground station is a bus or taxi ride away.
12	KensingtonK&C · 1.1 km from campus	£1,725^†	£2,500^†	13 min	bus 9	Piccadilly line Night Tube (Fri/Sat); night buses every night

Three areas that look cheap and usually aren't

These areas advertise some of the lowest rents on the list. Once the journey is counted, they stop being the cheap option for someone at Kensington Campus. That does not make them bad places to live — it means the headline rent is not the number to compare.

WillesdenA room is about £925 a month, which puts it among the cheaper options here. The journey is 54 minutes each way, against 13 minutes from Kensington. Over a teaching year that difference is roughly 205 hours, before you add the fare for the extra distance.
HarlesdenA room is about £850 a month, which puts it among the cheaper options here. The journey is 51 minutes each way, against 13 minutes from Kensington. Over a teaching year that difference is roughly 190 hours, before you add the fare for the extra distance.
ActonA room is about £925 a month, which puts it among the cheaper options here. The journey is 48 minutes each way, against 13 minutes from Kensington. Over a teaching year that difference is roughly 175 hours, before you add the fare for the extra distance.

Compare these areas side by side

The table above ranks on rent alone. Every area links to a full Boroughly guide with all seven life scores — safety, schools, green space, transport, diversity, LGBTQ+ friendliness and buzz — so you can see what the cheaper rent is costing you.

Open the map and build your own shortlist

What to weigh up before you commit

The cheapest postcode is rarely the cheapest option overall. Add the travel cost to the rent before comparing anything, then add the time: an extra 20 minutes each way is roughly 130 hours over a teaching year. A more expensive room that removes that journey can be the better deal even in cash terms.

Check the route at the hour you will actually travel. Something that takes 25 minutes at midday can take 40 in the morning peak, and an evening lab or a late rehearsal puts you on a very different network. If you will be coming home after midnight, read the late-night column before the rent column.

Then look at what a viewing will not tell you. Boroughly's area guides score every one of these neighbourhoods on safety, green space, amenities and transport, using the same method as the rest of the site.

How these numbers were worked out

Areas are the Boroughly areas nearest the campus postcode, then filtered to those with rent data and ranked cheapest first.
Rent marked † figures are modelled from Boroughly's two-bedroom estimate for the same area, not observed listings. Use them to compare areas against each other, not as a quote. Two-bed figures come from the same dataset as the rest of the site.
Commute is a door-to-door public transport journey from the centre of each area to the campus postcode, requested from Transport for London's journey planner for a weekday arrival at 09:00. Your own door will differ by a few minutes.
Late nights: Night Tube and night Overground run Friday and Saturday only. Night buses run every night across London. Check TfL before relying on any of it.
All of this is a comparison aid. Before signing anything, use your university's accommodation service — most run free contract checks and approved-landlord lists.

Browse more student locations

See all university guides or open the Boroughly map and build your own shortlist.

Check RCA's own campus and accommodation information.