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North East Connected

Hopping Across The North East From Hub To Hub

The number one address in Prime Central London aims to hold this position

ByEmily

Oct 20, 2017 #Business, #London

Home to some of the most luxurious properties in the world, the affluent neighbourhood of Mayfair can found to the east of Hyde Park, ideally situated in the centre of London. With a robust real estate market, accessible transport connections, and the finest retail and dining experiences available, it is a world-famous destination for tourists and highly covetable place of residence for the most wealthy around the globe.

Back in 1686, Mayfair was just a bare, swampy stretch of land until King James II welcomed the annual agricultural fair to expand into the area from Haymarket. The festival took place each year, during the first two weeks of May, and this is when the land found its purpose and was aptly named Mayfair.

As the number of attendees grew, as did the amount of incoming complaints from residents. With drinking and gambling involved, the event crowd could usually get quite rowdy, resulting in increased noise levels and the fair eventually being moved again in 1746. Finally, the event settled at Shepherd Market, where it still takes place each year.

The retirement of the fair in Mayfair led to Sir Grosvenor and other wealthy locals building beautiful garden squares, including the now famous Grosvenor Square, and inviting streets. The residents in the area developed a polished neighbourhood which began attracting the most affluent residents from around the country.

What makes Mayfair so desirable?

Since the injection of sophistication to the area, Mayfair has been one of the top addresses in London for decades, having recently reclaimed the crown from the neighbouring district of Knightsbridge. Now a tourist landmark, the opulent neighbourhood provides guests and locals, alike, with some of the best entertainment and dining experiences available on the planet. The Luxury Quarter is a popular attraction, offering the likes of Bond Street and Regent Street, and visitors have over 3,800 five-star hotel rooms to choose from when they stay. Home to two-thirds of the top retail brands, 26 of the 66 Michelin star restaurants in London, and one of the most exceptional theatre districts in the world, it is a neighbourhood that is hard to beat.

Among the community, there are currently around 2,000 millionaires, 20 billionaires, and 42 different nationalities, providing a culturally rich and diverse population. The residents supplement the local economy with about £2.5 million a year, twice that of tourists. As the allure of Mayfair endures and evolves, as does the profile of the typical inhabitant. Previously home to people between the ages of 55 and 75 in the 50’s through to the 80’s, 60 percent of residents are now aged under 44, and almost half of the entire community is made up of young, well-educated families, singles, and couples.

Money will forever change hands around the globe, and this will mean that Mayfair can always expect to welcome thriving and progressive urbanites into the area. As this happens, real estate also evolves, adapting to the more upmarket desires and state of the art features, and the younger the profile gets, the number of flats entering the market, as opposed to houses, increases.

New developments will be a breath of fresh air after almost a century

By 2022, Mayfair will have undergone a drastic transformation, one of which has not been seen in nearly a century, according to Wetherell. There are currently 11 developments under construction, which will add over 20 residential units to the area, and a further 21 projects are past the proposal stage and hoped to be built over the next five years. The extra units in total, aim to expand the current resident number by 25 percent, totalling 5,200 in population, and residential properties by ten percent, bringing the number of available homes in Mayfair to 4,363.

Expanding on this, the new properties anticipate a rise in property values across the most expensive postcode in London, W1K, as well as two others, both W1S and W1J, with some of the buildings being able to achieve 200 percent of the current market rate if sold privately. The overall goal, however, is to maintain the house price growth seen since the global market crash. Since then, London has seen growth rates 45 percent higher than before, whereas Mayfair has seen rates 188 percent greater than ten years previous. It is believed that this transformation will allow Mayfair to remain as the long-reigning number one address in London and maintain this high standard for many years to come.

By Emily