Hotfoots it to Mayfair - Mayfair Times

Small is
marketable
A TWO-BEDROOM
APARTMENT ON CURZON
STREET, AVAILABLE
THROUGH KNIGHT FRANK
WHEN THEY COME to the market, the multimillion-pound
Mayfair mansions get huge coverage in the property columns of
national newspapers and magazines. But 85 per cent of sales
are in the sub £5 million price bracket, according to Peter
Wetherell of estate agent Wetherell, with 61 per cent of the
market up to £2.5 million and an astounding 43 per cent of the
market under £1.5 million.
It’s the most active part of the market, agrees Sarah
Matthews, negotiator at Knight Frank’s Mount Street office –
and it’s still moving, although demand is outstripping supply.
Entry level for Mayfair residential can be as low as £495,000
for a lease on a one-bed flat in Shepherd Market, Wetherell
says.
And right now Wetherell has a 56-year lease on a onebedroom
house – yes, a house – in New Burlington Place, for
sale at just £750,000.
“When we tell people what’s on offer compared with
Belgravia, Kensington and even Chelsea, they quite often say
that they’ll take another look at Mayfair,” Wetherell says.
“In fact, that led to an ad campaign we did: Take Another
Look at Mayfair. People are surprised what they can get.”
At the heart of the market, Matthews says, is the twobedroom,
two-bathroom apartment. “We’ve got a couple of
good ones we’ve just taken on,” she says, “including a really
good two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment in Curzon Street.
“It’s going to come on at around the £2 million mark. It’s the
type of thing buyers are looking for because it suits so many
requirements: it can serve as someone’s home, it could be
somebody’s London pied à terre and it’s a great rental
investment.”
As a global property adviser, Knight Frank has an interesting
challenge: “There’s a perception that Knight Frank doesn’t want
to deal with anything other than really big expensive houses,”
Matthews says, “but I’m here pretty much devoting my time to
marketing and advising on properties at the lower end of the
market, the one and two beds. Clients receive exactly the same
level of service.”
Shortage of supply, value seekers on the buyer side and
unreasonable expectations on the selling side are leading to a
tight market. But there are still some great properties around.
Wetherell has a three-bedroom flat for sale in Dover Street.
It’s above Automat the American diner and is on the market at
£1.6 million for a 985-year lease.
And a studio on Mount Street, overlooking the Mayfair
library, is under offer at just £595,000. “It’s a gorgeous little
property,” Matthews says, “ it’s just very small.”
Wetherell is also selling a one bedroom flat above the
recently opened Mount Street Deli at £1.4 million.