“Why is Mayfair so expensive?”

There are a lot of people that have once thought of moving to or holidaying in Mayfair but almost immediately found their hopes dashed once they looked at the prices. London accommodations in general is very expensive, but Mayfair is probably the worst when it comes to prices. A bathroom in Mayfair costs as much as the average house elsewhere in the UK. So, why is there so much wealth in Mayfair? Why are people willing to pay so much to live in this part of London?

Mayfair is an area of London that’s in incredible demand. It’s close to all of the main attractions of central London, including the famous Hyde Park. You will find some of London’s best restaurants, bars and clubs in Mayfair and all of the shops in the area are designer boutiques, famous brands, authentic vintage, or they sell extravagant luxury items. There’s nothing that Mayfair doesn’t have and everything that Mayfair has is f spectacular quality. But, the demand for Mayfair property might go a bit deeper than it simply being a nice place to live.

It has been speculated that one of the biggest contributors to the incredible property prices in Mayfair is due to offshore investors snatching up property and foreign elite buying holiday homes.  For offshore firms, London properties – especially around Mayfair – are used as an investment. Their traded off for incredible prices, no matter what state they might be in. Most of these big mansions and historic buildings remain completely empty and haven’t been occupied for years. Many of them are in ruins but are still valued at £50million and more. These ‘buy-to-leave’ investors know that Mayfair property is always in high demand and so they know that they can sell off these properties for ridiculous prices no matter what condition they’re in.

On the other hand, you also have the elite buying property in Mayfair to use for holidays. For most of the year, these properties are empty until the owners decide to pay a visit for a couple of weeks during the year. These wealthy owners over time have attracted more wealthy property buyers because Mayfair has changed to accommodate them. Mayfair used to be a very typical area of London, with butcher shops and corner shops and old fashioned tailors. But, when the extremely wealthy moved into the area, the more expensive shops moved into Mayfair in order to attract their business. Now you have designer clothing shops, world renowned jewellers and watchmakers, and the local fish and chips made way for five star restaurants and cafes.

Although buying a Mayfair property is out of the question for most of us, rentable apartments are still available and many people are using them as their holiday destinations. Mayfair London serviced apartments to rent are almost like a hotel, in that you’ll have it cleaned, monitored by security and have staff to call if you need anything fixed or replaced. It’s certainly a far less expensive way of staying in Mayfair and they come fully stocked. So, to get a taste of Mayfair without paying an extortionate price, consider renting a serviced apartment instead of looking to buy.