The luxury lettings market in prime central London has more than doubled in size in the first half of 2025, with a 154% year-on-year increase.
Between January and June, 1,588 rental agreements were secured for properties priced over £1,000 per week – generating a combined rental income of £82.8 million. This compares to just 559 deals and £32.6m in income during the same period in 2024.
The dramatic surge has been revealed in the newly released mid-year edition of the Millionaires Letting in London Survey, produced by estate agency Beauchamp Estates.
The report draws on data from LonRes, alongside Beauchamp Estates’ in-house figures, off-market transactions, and local market insights.
The survey focuses on high-end homes – both houses and apartments – rented across Prime Central London by affluent tenants, with rental values exceeding £1,000 per week (equivalent to £4,333 per calendar month). The findings underscore a significant shift among high-net-worth individuals who are increasingly opting to rent luxury properties rather than purchase, amid changing market dynamics.
Over the first half of 2025 the deals agreed in London’s luxury lettings market generated combined rental income of £82.8 million of which £58m was generated by apartment lets and £24.8m was from houses. Of the £82.8m of rental income, £77.4m (93%) can be attributed to long-term rental agreements, and £5.4m (7%) from short-term lets.
Beauchamp Estates say that houses being let during 2025 have achieved a higher price premium compared to apartments because a significant proportion (40%) of international tenants have been wealthy families wanting houses rather than flat seeking singletons or couples.
Luxury houses across London achieved lettings values during H1 2025 that averaged £2,679 per week for long-term lets (house typically 2,284 sqft in size), and £6,002 per week for short-term lets (house typically 2,594 sqft in size). Apartments during H1 2025 achieved an average of £1,842 per week for long-term lets (typically 1,346 sqft in size), and £2,082 per week for short-term lets (1,197 sqft in size).
During the first six months of 2024 there were just 559 lettings deals agreed for values of over £1,000 per week (£4,333 per calendar month), with last year’s equivalent biggest lettings deals being £25,000 per week for a lavish apartment in One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, and £14,000 per week for a grand townhouse on Cadogan Place in Belgravia.
The H1 2024 lettings deals generated a combined rental income of £32.6 million (half of the 2025 figure), of which £23.9 million was from apartment lets and £8.7 million from the renting of houses. In 2024, 97% of the income was from long-term rental agreements, with just 3% due to short-term lets. During 2025, income generated by short-term lets has risen by 4%, due to the return to London of wealthy Middle Eastern short-let tenants during the Spring and Summer months who were mostly absent in 2024.
Beauchamp Estates reveal that during 2025 the most popular locations for luxury rentals were Mayfair and Marylebone (with 582 lettings deals recorded in the W1 postcode), accounting for 37% of all the luxury lettings deals in London. The next most popular addresses for renting luxury homes were Belgravia and St James’s (307 lettings deals recorded in SW1), accounting for 19% of all London luxury lettings deals agreed. Notting Hill (W2 & W11) was the final address in the Top-5 most popular locations to rent, with 211 deals, 14% of all deals.
Other popular addresses in the first half of 2025 include Kensington, with 213 deals recorded in W8 (13% of all deals), Acton (W3, 172 deals, 11%), Knightsbridge (SW7, 143 deals, 9%), Chelsea (SW3, 120 deals, 8%) and St John’s Wood (NW8, 82 deals, 5%).
Beauchamp Estates highlight that the largest groups of international tenants by country of origin have been Americans, predominantly families seeking houses for long-term lets.
The Americans have typically either been anti-Trump Democrats wanting to live in London for the next four years to escape the Trump Presidency, or Trump supporters, enriched by his Tax cutting policies, who need a London base to expand their investments in Europe.
The Americans typically favour family homes in Mayfair, Notting Hill, Kensington and Chelsea which is why the luxury rental markets in these addresses have flourished during 2025.
Another key group of tenants have been from the Gulf states (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar) who have been taking both long-term and summer short-term lets in London, with some Gulf tenants also going house hunting to purchase homes in the capital, during their stay.
The Middle Eastern tenants from the Gulf states like to rent luxury homes in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Marylebone and St John’s Wood whilst wealthy Israeli tenants have been renting family homes in St John’s Wood and Marylebone. Tenants from Western Europe have typically been seeking long-term rentals in Chelsea, Kensington and Notting Hill.
The Millionaires Letting in London Survey highlights that just as London’s luxury lettings market is dominated by tenants from the United States and Middle East, the luxury home sales market is also being driven by purchasers from the USA and Gulf States, who now account for 50% of all sales for homes valued above £15 million across the UK capital.
Beauchamp Estates say the Top-5 most popular locations to rent a luxury home has changed compared to H1 2024. In 2024 Belgravia and St James’s came top, with SW1 accounting for 149 deals (27% of the total), followed by Chelsea (SW3 having 100 deals, 18%), Kensington (W8 having 100 deals, 18%), Knightsbridge (95 deals in SW7, 17%) and finally Mayfair and Marylebone (88 deals in W1, 16% of the total).
In terms of supply, the survey has found significant changes in the marketplace. There has been a decrease in available stock as some of London’s traditional landlords have been gradually selling their rental portfolios. This is due to the UK Government’s Renters Right Bill, and the changes in the Non-Dom Taxation system, which has driven some of the traditional landlords to relocate to the Middle East or Asia where they have started to build new rental-income portfolios in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Singapore and Malaysia.
However the traditional landlords have been replaced by a new wave of “accidental landlords”. They include owner occupiers putting their homes onto the long-term rental market because they would rather benefit from rental income than sell their home at a price they cannot accept. There has also been a rise in turn-key properties in new developments, available to let by developers on a discreet off-market basis, the developers choosing to rent their stock rather than cut their listing prices.
Chris Tinkler, lettings manager at Beauchamp Estates (Mayfair), said: “The has been significant growth in lettings activity across Prime Central London. During the first half of 2025 we have seen a marked increase in the number of letting deals completed compared to both 2024 and 2023, with total lettings volume increasing and the value of deals rising. The London lettings market is being driven by continued strong demand from international tenants, especially American, Middle Eastern and European tenants. In the short-let market this year we have also seen a spike in tenants from the Middle East coming to London to enjoy the spring and summer, a significant increase from last year when many visited continental Europe rather than the UK.”
Jeremy Gee, MD of Beauchamp Estates, commented: “The huge appeal of Prime Central London as a key destination for both short and long stays is evident, the luxury lettings market has doubled in size during the first half of 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. London’s luxury property market is hugely influenced by global political and economic shifts, rather than just domestic economic activity.
“Over the last 12 months the political decisions of President Donald Trump, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have had a significant impact on London’s luxury residential lettings and sales markets, their decisions generating a wave of new international tenants and real estate purchasers in the UK capital.”
Read the orginal article: https://propertyindustryeye.com/surge-in-londons-luxury-lettings-as-ultra-wealthy-favour-renting-over-buying/
