Tooting Postcode Tops Income List

Oct. 4, 2012 - PRLog -- Property prices in Tooting have risen sharply in recent years because of its proximity to green space known as the Tooting Commons which are at the northern end of Tooting and large selection of pubs, bars and restaurants.

This is not the first time that Tooting has hit the news, in the 1970’s the BBC’s comedy series Citizen Smith was set in Tooting.  This starred Robert Lindsay who played the leading character Wolfie Smith who was a left wing revolutionary with the catchphrase "Freedom for Tooting!".

The report entitled Wealth of the Nation 2012 by CACI who are a data company that specialises in postcode analysis, found that income per home in one particular postcode in Tooting is £66,100.  This is higher than anywhere else in the country including traditionally upmarket London areas such as Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea.

Meanwhile a postcode in Salford Quays in Manchester was found to have the sixth highest average household income in the UK at £63,700, this is due to the BBC moving much of its operations there.   Although interestingly, neither Tooting or Salford were in the top 10 the last time that CACI carried out the research in 2006.

CACI it said that the Tooting postcode (http://www.simply-postcode-lookup.com/index.htm) in question SW17 6 is home to a large number of “well-educated, senior managerial young couples”, meaning that many homes have two generous incomes.   The research found that a noticeable absence of poorer retired people in the postcode (http://www.simply-postcode-lookup.com/for_web.htm) which lets the average income in the postcode (http://www.simply-postcode-lookup.com/geographic_data.htm) remains high.

The Tooting area is also attractive to young working professionals as it is located on the Northern Line of the underground and so has great transport links into the City of London.   Farhad Ahmed, a member of the Balham and Tooting Community Association, said that Tooting’s attraction is its diversity, although he said that not all parts of Tooting are affluent.

“The area is really diverse. Parts have the highest average income but there are also areas that are very deprived. You find people with low the lowest incomes there as well with half a mile of that area. It is a strange mixture, really.   He said that house prices in Tooting have “steadily gone up” but said there are places “about three-quarters of a mile away that you’ll find are the lowest prices properties in the borough”.