Revealed: How living in a different part of London can cost you thousands more in bills each year

Residents in some London boroughs are paying hundreds of pounds a year in household bills than people in other parts of the capital, according to data released today.

The capital’s average household bills were calculated to be 16 per cent higher than in the rest of Britain, but they differed greatly across the city. Comparethemarket used data from quotes given through its price comparison website to calculate average prices for energy, home insurance and car insurance.

People living in Kensington and Chelsea paid the most, with an annual average of £3,228 a year, nearly 40 per cent more than residents in Merton, which was the cheapest with annual bills of £1,957.

In Westminster, average bills were £2,567, while in Hammersmith & Fulham they were £2,334.

The website suggested that Kensington and Chelsea was so expensive because residents had more expensive homes and cars, which were costlier to run and insure.

Newham was the second most expensive borough, with residents parting with an average of £2,860 a year.

The website said residents paid so much because estimates were “primarily driven by extremely high car insurance premiums”, which was “a result of the borough’s high level of motor crime, which is the highest in capital”. The second cheapest borough was Wandsworth, followed by Kingston and Sutton.

The data was based on more than 700,000 energy and car and household insurance estimates, although Comparethemarket declined to further break down the figures, saying that they were “commercially sensitive”.