According to top-end central London estate agent E A Shaw (www.eashaw.com), property on the lettings market is shifting quickly and upper-scale property in extremely good condition is particularly appealing to wannabe tenants.
Hannah Read, E A Shaw’s lettings manager, says: ‘We are seeing steady demand from domestic and international tenants looking to live in the heart of the capital. Those relocating from overseas want to experience what the bustling areas of Covent Garden and Soho offer and want an apartment to match their expectations.’
High on the wish list are warehouse conversions and sleek new build apartments that offer the space and streamlined look that appeals to the upper echelons of the lettings market, explains Mrs Read.
‘Covent Garden’s Neal Street is known and desired by many and when apartments are on offer there they move quickly,’ she adds.
‘The top end of the lettings market seems to be following a similar pattern to what is happening to the prime and super-prime sales markets,’ Mrs Read believes.
Property currently on E A Shaw’s books indicative of what prime lettings tenants are keen to have in the capital include a rare, newly furbished apartment in a former fruit warehouse with lofty ceilings and 19th century gantry equipment in Neal Street available at a guide price of £1,750 a week.
In nearby Bloomsbury, a three-bedroom contemporary penthouse with a lift, balcony and private terrace in a quiet mews will cost in the region of £1,200 a week.
