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There really is nowhere that does city living quite so conveniently as Mayfair: the best restaurants in the world, the most famous shopping street and one of London’s most beautiful parks all within little more than a square kilometre – and served by a generous five tube stations.
“When people say, ‘Why buy in Mayfair?’ the answer is, quite simply, that you can walk everywhere,” says Peter Wetherell, of estate agent Wetherell. “The culture is here, the food is here – you almost don’t need the rest of London when you’ve got Mayfair.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, who recently proclaimed in an interview with Jonathan Ross that London for him is “Grosvenor Square, Hyde Park and Selfridges”. It’s no surprise, then, that Mayfair has become the destination of choice for those looking for a pied à terre in the city.“Up to 40 or 50 per cent of my buyers are looking for a pied à terre of some description,” says Charles Lloyd, of Savills’ Mayfair branch, “because this area is so geared up for pied à terre living. Twenty to 30 per cent are looking for one or two bed flats.”
But, says Lloyd, the weekday city living, weekend country living model is nolonger the only driver: “Traditionally a pied à terre was a small one-bed flat for a gentleman or businessman to stay in Monday to Friday, but the idea has grown beyond that. You’ve got very wealthy families from overseas buying places that they’ll use for a couple of days a month or just a couple of weeks a year.” Many of these people have stayed in Mayfair’s five-star hotels before and started to suspect that, if they’re visiting every year, buying a place might actually make sense. “If you’re paying £500 a night or more for a hotel suite it looks like good value, plus it’s an investment for the future – and while you’re not using it you can lock it up or rent it out,” says Wetherell.
Prices for a one-bedroom apartment in the area range from £600,000 to around £1.5 million, while a luxurious two-bed can be picked up for £2 million. With the weak pound, that’s looking like a more attractive prospect than ever for foreign visitors. “I’ve seen a big increase in demand for apartments in prime London – particularly within Mayfair,” says Heta Shah, a partner at Mayfair-based buying agent The Residence Collection, which deals with a high proportion of Asian clients. “Now is a great time for them to buy, to take advantage of the weak pound. And for Indian buyers in particular, Mayfair’s really been put on the map by the fact that a lot of the Bollywood stars, like Shah Rukh Khan and Anil Kapoor, now have places here. Having an address in Mayfair has a real status attached to it – it shows you’re doing well.”
So which are the most sought-after areas? “There’s a lot of caché attached tobeing near the park,” says Shah. “It’s always good to buy on streets which are near landmarks so you know the place is always going to hold its value, and that when things really pick up you’ll get good capital gains on it. Around Mount Street is a popular place to buy because you’ve got famous members’ clubs and really good boutiques there.”
According to Wetherell, Mayfair can generally be divided into three areas: “Mayfair International – Park Lane, Grosvenor Square and Piccadilly – the big addresses which go for big prices; Mayfair town – east of the squares, towards Regent Street – where it feels more commercial; and Mayfair Village – the heart of Mayfair – around South Audley Street, Mount Street and Charles Street. The latter is the prime area for pied à terres.”
Lloyd agrees: “People like to be around Mount Street and South Audley Street because that’s where the buzz and the life is. If you’re just looking for a bolt-hole you’re not going to go to Grosvenor Square because it is very expensive. But some people actually prefer to be around Shepherd Market and the Curzon Street area because it’s quite cosmopolitan these days, with lots of restaurants and pubs.” Savills will be launching three two-bed apartments in the Shepherd Market area later this year.
When looking for a property, it’s also important to think about how you’re going to use it, says Lloyd: “You want somewhere safe and secure so that when you’re not there you know it’s going to be okay. For that reason, choosing a block with a porter or caretaker is important. If you’re always going to be arriving with a suitcase you don’t want to be carrying it up flights of stairs, so if it’s above first floor something with a lift is preferable. For that reason, not being far from a tube station is a bonus.”
Since a lot of buyers are ultimately looking for a glorified hotel suite, they tend to want a “turn-key product”, according to estate agents – something completely refurbished, that they can move into straight away.
But Shah warns against dismissing properties that might need a little modernisation: “Sometimes it’s worth looking at things that aren’t fully done yet. You can benefit on the price front, but also it means you can add your own touch to it. And if you’re not checking into a hotel, why not make it feel more like a home from home?”
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