One of London’s most famous streets is getting a £4.4 million revamp

The multi-coloured pastel façades of Portobello Road are one of London’s most iconic streetscapes. The Notting Hill street’s diverse roster of antique shops, restaurants and boutiques is legendary, while Portobello has played backdrop to the on-screen romance of Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, and to the marmalade-fuelled adventures of Paddington. 

Portobello Road Market is already among the city’s most picture-perfect shopping destinations, but soon it’ll get even sleeker. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council has announced that the street will receive a £4.4 million makeover, including wider pavements, new lights, accessibility upgrades, more greenery and parking bays.

And the upgrades aren’t stopping there. Portobello Market is also getting future-proofed with a new fancy drainage system to prevent flooding. The area has been somewhat prone to floods – with particularly heavy rainfall in 2021 causing severe water damage to businesses and residents to be temporarily relocated – but a new Hydrorock system will use underground tree pits and absorbent materials designed to store rainwater and slow the flow to drains.

Some residents will be glad to hear that the council will replace Portobello Road’s concrete anti-terror barriers with sliding bollards. The existing barriers were installed a few years ago on advice from the Metropolitan Police. 

The changes were approved last Tuesday (February 10) following a six-week public consultation in 2025 and will be funded through the Community Infrastructure Levy – a charge collected from developers, meaning no money will be diverted from local services.

Work is expected to begin in January 2027, with the first phase focusing on infrastructure between Chepstow Villas and Westbourne Grove and a second phase covering the stretch from Westbourne up to Elgin Crescent.

Here are the best things to do in Portobello Road.

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