Kensington has a safety index of 72 out of 100 (Lower reported crime). This is a relative measure comparing reported crime across Cape Town suburbs, not an absolute safety guarantee. The Kensington precinct recorded approximately 4,596 crimes in the most recent annual period. Absolute crime volume is below the city average.

Is Kensington affordable?

Kensington sits in the mid-range for Cape Town property values. The median is R1.3M, placing it in the 38th percentile, broadly in line with the city median. Note that these figures are based on the City of Cape Town General Valuation 2022 and reflect municipal valuations, not necessarily current market prices.

Kensington

Safety 72/100 Safer than 66% of Cape Town suburbs (relative) Property 800k-1M Top 62% Schools 5 93% matric pass rate Healthcare 14 facilities more access than most suburbs Council Near avg complaints 1d median resolution Transport Minibus taxi coverage well-connected area

Data current as of March 2026

The neighbourhood

What's it like to live here?

Kensington is a neighbourhood in Northern Suburbs, Cape Town, where property values are moderate by Cape Town standards. The area's safety profile is below the city average for reported safety. There is a strong presence of places of worship serving the community. The dominant commuter mode is private vehicle. Policing falls under the Kensington SAPS precinct.

How is the area changing?

In Kensington, crime is rising based on the most recent quarterly comparison. Property values have grown above inflation between valuation rolls.

What should buyers know?

Kensington is well-served by schools, and matric results are broadly in line with the city average. In this area, the City typically resolves service complaints promptly. The suburb is well-served by nearby healthcare facilities.

Neighbourhood summary generated from StreetSignal data and reviewed by our team.

These statistics describe the suburb as a whole. Conditions vary between streets and neighbourhoods within any suburb.

For home buyers & families

Is Kensington safe?

Lower reported crime

Higher crime Moderate Lower crime

15th percentile among 744 suburbs · relative index, not an absolute safety measure

Very low Absolute crime volume

4 596 reported crimes per year · city median: 10 468

↑ 9.6% vs Q3 2024

Crime is low by Cape Town standards. Contact crime (assault, robbery) dominates the reported crime profile.

Detailed data

Safety index (resident-adjusted) How is this calculated? 72 / 100

Contact crime rate 160,629 per 100k residents

Station population 23 803

Harm rate (per resident) 56/100

Harm volume (absolute) 92/100

Data period Q3 2025/2026 (Oct–Dec 2025)

Source SAPS via DataFirst · CC-BY 4.0

This data reflects crimes reported to SAPS Kensington precinct, which covers Kensington and surrounding suburbs. Reported crime may differ from actual crime levels. Full methodology

Disagree with this score? Challenge the methodology ›

Source: SAPS via DataFirst · Q3 2025/2026

FOR BUYERS & INVESTORS

What do properties cost in Kensington?

38th percentile

The median property value in Kensington is R1.3M. Property values have grown by 8.1% per year since 2018.

A 8.1% annual growth rate (CAGR) over the valuation period.

Value band distribution – Kensington properties (GV2022)

2-400k

4-600k

6-800k

800k-1M ◀

1-1.5M

1.5-2M

2-2.5M

Property values are based on the City of Cape Town's 2022 General Valuation roll. GV is an assessed value for municipal rating purposes; transaction prices frequently exceed GV. Recent sales transaction data and rental market data are not available as open data in South Africa.

Median GV2022 R1,340,000

Value growth (CAGR 2018–2022) +8.1% per year ↑ Growing

City-wide value percentile 38th percentile

Dominant value band 800k-1M

Source CCT GV 2022 · Open Data Policy 27781

Source: City of Cape Town GV2022

FOR PARENTS

How are schools in Kensington?

5 schools nearby

Kensington has 5 schools within reach. The area matric pass rate is 93.3%, above the city median of 90.0%. Schools include Hidayatul Islam College.

Adjusted pass rate

93.3%

City median: 90.0%

Schools contributing

227 candidates

Median quintile

Q4-Q5

IND

Hidayatul Islam College

Independent · Grades R–7 · 278 learners · 25.3:1 learner-educator ratio

PrivateQuintile 5School fees applyFavourable class size

Kenmere Primary School

Public · Grades R–7 · 1,152 learners · 34.9:1 learner-educator ratio

Quintile 5School fees apply

Windermere Primary School

Public · Grades R–7 · 832 learners · 33.3:1 learner-educator ratio

Quintile 5School fees apply

Kensington Secondary School

Public · Grades 8–12 · 1,214 learners · 29.6:1 learner-educator ratio

Quintile 5School fees applyFavourable class size

St. John'S Rc Primary School

Public · Grades R–7 · 558 learners · 29.4:1 learner-educator ratio

Quintile 5School fees applyFavourable class size

Quintile 5 is the highest government-funding category - fees apply, but these are the best-resourced public schools in South Africa. Rankings set by the WCED against community socioeconomic index. Learner-educator ratio (LER) is from EMIS Q2 2025; under 30:1 is favourable by WCED standards, over 40:1 indicates strained capacity. What quintile means ›

Source: DBE EMIS · Q2 2025

FOR COMMUTERS

How connected is Kensington?

Private vehicle dominant

Kensington has 8 minibus taxi routes, including routes to the CBD. The most common way people get to work is by private vehicle (67%).

Taxi connectivity

Limited connectivity

8 routes

39th percentile · 9 destinations · CBD-connected

Bellville, Bellville (via cape town, n1 & durban rd), Bellville (via cape town, n1, vanguard dr & voortrekker rd), Bothasig, Cape town, Kensington +3 more

Based on CCT minibus taxi route data. Routes matched by name and spatial proximity (500m). Methodology ›

Commute mode share

A mixed transport profile. Multiple modes serve Kensington – consider proximity to work when evaluating.

Private vehicle

67%

Walking

11%

MyCiTi bus

Minibus taxi

17%

Cape Town transport context: In South African cities, transport mode is a socioeconomic proxy – high private vehicle = affluent, high minibus taxi = working class, high walking = structural necessity not preference. StreetSignal reports modal share rather than a walkability index, which would misrepresent SA urban mobility. Methodology ›

Dominant mode Private vehicle (67%)

Source CCT Household Survey 2024

Source: City of Cape Town Open Data · 2024

FOR RESIDENTS

What are living conditions in Kensington?

Full municipal services

Kensington has a service delivery index of 99.4 out of 100, above the city median of 84.5. 78% of dwellings are formal structures.

Computed from the City of Cape Town 2024 Household Survey , Kensington survey group (43 households). direct.

Food insecurity is low at 1.2% of households

› Monthly accommodation expenditure (R662) is 0.4× the city median of R1,674.

Access to basic services

99 City median: 85

Piped water

97.6%

Flush toilet

100.0%

Weekly refuse

100.0%

Grid electricity

100.0%

Housing & tenure – Mixed tenure community

78 City median: 68

Formal dwellings

78.0%

Owner-occupied

50.2%

Rented

29.7%

Environmental risk – Low risk exposure

2 risk index · higher = greater risk · City median: 26

Flooding risk

0.0%

Fire risk

0.0%

Violent crime

0.0%

Non-violent crime

2.4%

Economic structure – Moderate material pressure

Food spending share

31.7%

Share of income spent on food
City median: 35.3%
Comfortable, moderate discretionary income · 69th percentile

Hardship dimensions

Areas of material need (out of 8)

Grant income share

35.0%

of households receiving grants

Monthly savings

R191

Weighted mean per household

Spending priorities – top priority: Food

Food

100.0%

of households prioritise

Electricity

82.7%

of households prioritise

Petrol/transport

80.0%

of households prioritise

School fees

43.1%

of households prioritise

Debt repayment

23.3%

of households prioritise

Digital inclusion – Fibre-connected suburb

Home fibre

79.6%

City median: 46.5%

Mobile only

16.0%

No access

1.2%

Food security

Adult food insecurity

1.2%

City median: 18.3%

Child food insecurity

1.2%

City median: 13.0%

Food insecurity prevalence

1.2%

City median: 22.3%

Demographics & community

Avg household size

3.4 people

Avg children per household

1.3

Asset ownership

Computer access

63.7%

Fridge ownership

100.0%

Property ownership

0.0%

Geyser ownership

73.6%

Borehole access

2.4%

Home-based economy

Home-based business

8.0%

of households operate a home-based business

WFH full-time

3.6%

WFH part-time

5.6%

How Kensington compares

Food insecurity 93% below the city average for adult food insecurity

Material hardship 53% below the city average for material hardship

Income 2.0× the city average for median household income

Food spend share 10% below the city average for food expenditure share

Source: City of Cape Town 2024 Household Survey. Survey group: Kensington. direct.

Energy access

13%

Free basic electricity

5.6%

City median

13% of electricity connections in Kensington receive free basic electricity under the City's indigent support programme. Free basic electricity is a constitutional entitlement providing a monthly allocation to qualifying households. The proportion reflects the reach of the City's indigent support in this suburb, not a measure of poverty.

Source: CCT prepaid electricity data (2025/11/30 to 2026/01/31). Covers prepaid connections only. Credit-metered households are not included. 9,064 connections.

Source: City of Cape Town household survey · 2024

FOR RESIDENTS

How responsive are municipal services in Kensington?

Highly responsive

The City of Cape Town resolves service requests in Kensington in a median of 1 day, compared to the city-wide median of 1 day. This is based on 10,037 service requests to the City of Cape Town.

Computed from City of Cape Town service request data

Infrastructure problems get fixed fast. The median resolution under one day means Kensington residents experience responsive municipal service – a signal of well-maintained infrastructure and efficient complaint routing.

Median days to resolve
City median: 1

70th

Percentile
across Cape Town

35%

Resolved
same day

Power outage (13%)Sewerage overflow (9%)Suspect Tampering (7%)Single street light out (7%)Street lights out (7%)

Service requests logged 10 037

Requests resolved 78% (7 852 of 10 037)

75% resolved within 5 days

90% resolved within 12 days

Source CCT service request database

Community & faith

Places of worship

22 registered

Christian

Islamic

Registered places of worship per suburb from City of Cape Town open data. Coverage: 299 of 744 suburbs.

Municipal complaints

Complaints & top issues

Near city average

Complaint rate How is this calculated? 2621.0 per 1,000 households

Total complaints 10 008

Unresolved 22.0%

Top issues: No Power (1 280), SEW: Blocked/Overflow (857), Suspect Tampering (727)

Source: City of Cape Town C3 service requests

FOR FAMILIES

What services are near Kensington?

Well served

Healthcare access

14 within 5km

Nearest public Factreton Clinic · Community Day Centre · 0.5 km

Nearest private Intercare Day Hospital Century City · Private Hospital · 2.7 km

Public facilities 12

Private facilities 2

This suburb has access to both public and private healthcare within 5 km.

The nearest fire station to Kensington is Brooklyn, 2.4 km away. The nearest public pool is Kensington Swimming Pool, 1.0 km away. The nearest clinic is Factreton Clinic, 0.5 km away.

Nearest clinic Factreton Clinic · 0.5 km

Nearest library Kensington · 0.5 km

Nearest park / open space Lodestar Street Pos · 0.25 km