High profile prime London lettings agency Beauchamp Estates has revealed that a surge of well-heeled overseas tenants are helping propel the capital’s luxury lettings sector to new heights.
And the biggest group are motivated by US President Donald Trump … but not necessarily seeking refuge from him.
Using its own data and information from LonRes – plus what it calls “local market intelligence” – Beauchamp Estates’ annual Millionaires Letting in London Survey analyses houses and apartments rented across Prime Central London for values of over £1,000 per week (£4,333 per calendar month).
The agency says 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, it claims.
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.
Younger American, Middle Eastern and European tenants have also been drawn to two and three bedroom apartments in the recently built ultra-luxury apartment buildings with concierge, swimming pools, gyms and health spas located in Mayfair (Grosvenor Square and Piccadilly), Marylebone (around the High Street) and Knightsbridge (Brompton Road).
The agency says in May this year its lettings department let a house close to Berkeley Square in Mayfair for £75,000 per week (£325,000 per month) and in the short-let market recently let a large five bedroom residence on Princes Gate for £22,500 per week, one of the biggest super-prime short-let deals agreed during 2025.
In an analysis of the whole prime central London lettings market, the agency says some 1,588 lettings deals of over £1,000 per week have been struck during the first half 2025, generating a combined rental income of £82.8m m, compared to H1 2024 when there were just 559 deals generating an income of £32.6m.
