The lights were on in One Hyde Park back in February, as a lone resident settled into her palatial pad for the night.

The female tenant, in her mid-20s, moved to London from China six months ago and paid five years rent upfront for the Knightsbridge apartment which costs £15,000 a week. In other words, a £4m lump sum.

But she’s not alone. London’s luxury lettings market is booming thanks to a sudden influx of overseas renters into the capital. This surge in renting homes priced over £4,000 a week, comes as the high end sales market stagnates in the run up to the general election. The threat of a Labour mansion tax on properties worth more than £2m has cast a shadow over central London, stalling sales as vendors wait until after May to get a better price.

While we didn’t have a bad April, it is quieter than it should be at this time of the year and unlike central London and parts of The West End, (normal) people in the suburbs are still working zero our contracts with many others working part-time. Job Security is, in my opinion, a worry for some of our existing tenants many of whom are renewing their tenancy agreements at a time when instruction levels are low. Combine this with the landlords who have sold off one or more of their properties and you can see why there is a lack of availability. I know that we and our competitors are having to fight for every instruction now and it would be good to see this business regulated – if only to stop every Tom, Dick & Harry from setting up business’s from suites and charging ridiculously low fee’s. It goes without saying that us professionals know they provide no service and little management experience but it doesn’t stop a naive percentage of the public from using them.

Devere Letting Bureau manage a large portfolio of apartment blocks belonging to private, individual landlords and with the backing of our maintenance team and workmen, we’re available on 24 hour call out for all eventualities. As I have previously said on here, it is easy renting a property, anyone can do that. Getting the right tenants and running everything properly is the important part.

If you are a landlord call us now.

We would be delighted to help you.