The Prime Central London lettings market is highly resilient, with the super-luxury and short-term rental sectors booming, the market driven by wealthy American, European and Chinese tenants, reveals luxury London estate agent Beauchamp Estates, which has just released its annual Prime Central London Lettings Survey 2024.

The survey found that wealthy Americans are currently the largest overseas tenant group at the top end of the Prime Central London lettings market and favour addresses including Notting Hill, St John’s Wood, Chelsea and Mayfair. As a result of this American influence 2024 saw a remarkable upsurge in the popularity of SW3 (Chelsea), with lettings transaction volumes up by 21% on 2023.

The survey showed that during 2024 tenants were willing to spend more on London rentals compared to 2023, with the total value of long-let rental transactions in Prime Central London rising from £362.25 million in 2023 to £379.45 million in 2024, a rise of 4.7% (an annual increase in rental deals of almost £20 million).

The Prime Central London Lettings Survey 2024 draws on lettings transactions data of the 3,815 rental deals agreed during 2024, up from 3,652 in 2023, using information from LonRes combined with Beauchamp Estates’ in-house data and local market intelligence. The survey covers houses and apartments with rental prices of between £850 per week and £45,000 per week.

By comparing year-on-year data, the new survey provides an analysis of the current London lettings landscape in the capital’s most sought-after postcodes, alongside a forecast of what to expect from them in 2025.

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The survey highlights that the addresses favoured by wealthy American and European tenants, Bayswater, parts of Notting Hill, Knightsbridge, St John’s Wood, Chelsea and Mayfair have attracted significant rental activity, with key postcodes including W2, SW7 and NW8 dominating, indicating that the most prestigious areas retain their appeal and attract both domestic and international tenants.

Analysis of the best performing postcodes reveals that the top three have retained their position year on year. At first place is W2 (Bayswater and parts of Notting Hill), with 287 prime rental transactions, representing 7% of all deals, and a rise of 6% on 2023. This is closely followed by SW7 (Knightsbridge) and then SW3 (Chelsea), which in 2024 saw the highest increase in transactions year on year, with 247 deals representing an increase of 21% on 2023.

With transactions in SW6, at seventh place, having dropped by 18%, it seems renters who may once have looked to Hammersmith and Fulham, Parsons Green and parts of South Kensington are now being lured to the “golden postcode” of SW3. With the thoroughfares of King’s Road, Sloane Square and radiating streets and squares offering endless new boutiques, high-end eateries and galleries, plus excellent transport connections, SW3 is the epitome of glamorous yet practical Prime Central London living at its best. Finally, W1 (Mayfair) and SW1X (Westminster) complete the Top 10 best performing postcodes for lettings deals in 2024.

Beauchamp Estates say that the presence of W8, NW8 and NW3 amongst the best performing postcodes for lettings deals shows that many tenants, especially those with families, are choosing North West London locales such as St John’s Wood and Hampstead. With a wide choice of excellent schools on the doorstep, they can find large family apartments and houses with private gardens here, while still being in easy reach of the West End, City and Canary Wharf.

The survey shows that while apartments still represented the largest portion of the total rental market value in 2024, there has been a slight shift, down from 63% in 2023 to 60%, illustrating the increasing desirability of houses. The average lettings values for apartments on both long and short lets also fell in 2024: on a short let, by 11% to £1,770 per week, and on a long let from £2,046 per week to £1,775.

Another significant trend revealed by the survey is that short-term rental properties saw a notable increase in both size of home and price in 2024. Short let houses, for instance, are now averaging larger spaces, around 2,587sq.ft. compared to 2,140sq.ft. in 2023, and saw an average weekly price hike of nearly 34% year on year, from £2,045 in 2023 up to £2,739 in 2024.

Illustrating the growing demand for luxury homes in Prime Central London, particularly in areas such as Bayswater, Notting Hill and St John’s Wood, the highest short let deal recorded in 2024, and brokered by Beauchamp Estates, was £45,000 per week for an immaculately presented contemporary five-storey five-bedroom 8,000sq.ft.-plus house on Rede Place, in Notting Hill.

The interior designed home, which has several large, private outdoor spaces and features a subterranean two-storey leisure wing with swimming pool, spa suite, cinema room and fully stocked bar, was let on a fully furnished basis.

This compares with the £29,000 achieved in the top short-let house let deal of 2023, a 14,566sq.ft. eight-bedroom mansion on The Bishops Avenue in N2, near Hampstead Heath.

This surge in demand for uber-luxurious, short let rentals (taken for less than six months, and typically three) in 2024 was fuelled, says Beauchamp Estates, by the climate of uncertainty, influencing potential tenants’ decisions. With the new Non-Dom tax regulations still undergoing clarification last year, many international Ultra High Net Worth Individuals are believed to have held off on committing to new long-term rental agreements in London.

Key nationalities of those signing short let deals with Beauchamp Estates includes Americans, Western European, Chinese, Indian and West African clients, with a notable rise seen in clients from Hong Kong and Korea. The agent notes that clients from the Middle East, and Dubai in particular, have dedicated staff accommodation high on their wish list, with one nanny often employed per child.

Looking ahead to the rest of 2025, Beauchamp Estates predicts there will be a further increase in American clients, in particular those who did not vote for a Trump presidency, looking to rent. Homes in prestigious enclaves such as St John’s Wood, Regent’s Park and Hampstead, with private outside space and easy access to The American School in London, London Business School and Regent’s University, will be especially sought after.

Beauchamp Estates’ Prime Central London Lettings Survey 2024 finds that in the very highest echelons of London’s rental market, the most uber-luxe properties are commanding ever higher prices, although transaction figures in the Ultra Prime market were down year-on-year, with 37 deals at over £10,000 per week (25 long and 12 short) compared to 51 (32 long and short) in 2023.

Some of the most significant rental agreements of 2024, in London’s most exclusive locations, were made by Beauchamp Estates, including securing the highest price for a short let flat. At Princes Gate, in South Kensington, a triplex five ensuite-bedroom apartment overlooking Hyde Park, with its own private indoor swimming pool, leisure suite and four private outdoor spaces, was let for £20,000 per week.

At the same price point, on a long let, a 5,750sq.ft. three-bedroom three-bathroom apartment at Twenty Grosvenor Square, in the heart of Mayfair, named “0.07” after Ian Fleming’s famous spy, came with access to a luxurious health club and five star hotel-style services provided by Four Seasons.

Highlighting the rapidly increasing popularity of the SW3 postcode, another Beauchamp Estates short let, in Brompton Square, saw £22,000 per week achieved for a nine storey six-bedroom townhouse with nearly 6,000 sq.ft. of living space, four receptions, an indoor swimming pool and four private outdoor spaces, plus the services of a housekeeper four days a week.

Jeremy Gee, Managing Director of Beauchamp Estates, says: “Beauchamp Estates’ Prime Central London Lettings Survey 2024 demonstrates a remarkable resilience in rental hot spots across the UK capital, with continued demand across both luxury and long- and short-term rental segments. Rental values remained strong in key hotspots, and there was an increase in overall transaction volumes, indicating stability and continued demand in the market. Prime locations such as Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Mayfair and Bayswater remain at the forefront of activity, with high-end properties continuing to attract affluent tenants. The ongoing appeal of Prime Central London as a key destination for both short and long stays is evident, with the number of year on year transactions increasing slightly. A  burgeoning trend may be that people may choose to rent, and ‘try before they buy’, before committing to in the longer term.”

Ziad Hijazi, Lettings Manager at Beauchamp Estates, says: “The English capital’s most prestigious postcodes retained their appeal to renters throughout 2024, and Beauchamp Estates Prime Central London Lettings Survey confirms the growing demand for luxury homes in key hot spots, with a year-on-year increase in transactions seen especially in SW3, NW8 and NW1. It is clear that the best in class properties are achieving the best rents, and landlords who are doing works to their properties are able to confidently ask for higher rents than similar properties in their immediate areas. American tenants have been highly active in the London lettings market and looking ahead, Beauchamp Estates expect an increasing number of American renters, especially those who didn’t welcome a Trump presidency, to be heading this way.”

For further lettings information and listings contact Beauchamp Estates on Tel: + 44 (0)20 7722 9793, or visit www.beauchamp.com