An overview of the commercial property market in Mayfair

Located in central London, Mayfair is within the City of Westminster and is a bustling district with several major corporations and embassies choosing to house their London headquarters within it. With a mix of top end residential and commercial buildings and space, Mayfair has become popular for exclusive shopping brands and boutiques, real estate and finance businesses and the area also has the highest number of luxury hotels in the city.

Due to the location, reputation and clientele, Mayfair has long been and still remains one of London's most exclusive districts and as such, demands some of the highest commercial rents in the city, and indeed the world. Despite many businesses reducing their overheads during the global economic downturn, commercial property in Mayfair has seemed to have sat above the financial concerns and retained its demand and therefore price for office and commercial space. Recent values for monthly rental costs in the Mayfair area average out at £80 per square foot of space. Business rates on average per square foot are approximately £33 a month and building service charges equal an average of £9 per square foot a month. Therefore the total monthly cost per square foot in Mayfair averages out to be £120 per square foot, some 45% higher than the whole London average.

With the increased premium found in Mayfair not detracting the demand for commercial property, it is unusual to find short term leases when signing on office or shop space. Furthermore, the high demand limits the opportunity for negotiation on asked prices. Even with the offer of a long lease, the history of property prices in prime London have continued to increase and so building owners will expect an incremental rental increases over set periods of time. The most common duration of commercial property leasing is 2-3 years, although some of the large corporations will demand the option to extend and sign for around 5 years at a time. There are some opportunities for 1 or 2 year leases but these are usually only found on retail units.

For those wishing to benefit from a prime London address, especially companies with the majority of their business being done out of London or overseas, Mayfair does offer some options by the way of serviced and virtual offices. Facilities and services in this type of set up range from a desk in a larger office space or simply a 'virtual receptionist' who screens incoming calls and post, forwarding messages and letters onto a designated forwarding address and or email. One further advantage of many serviced offices are the capacity to hold meetings within them by booking time in a professional and well set up meeting room.

About Mayfair History

Originally known as The May Fair, Mayfair acquired its name through being the site for London's May celebrations where festivities would last for two weeks. This annual tradition was moved to East London in 1764 when the higher society residents in Mayfair felt the fair brought down the tone of the area. Mayfair was originally a predominantly a high end residential area with many of the well-known London families, including The Grovesnors and Rothchilds, being majority landlords. During the Second World War, many parts of the district were damaged by the Blitz and remedial and construction work was carried out. From around the same time, the shift in trends and rising property prices turned Mayfair into a more commercial area with many exclusive shops, hotels and restaurants taking space there. Additionally, many embassies established themselves in Mayfair including the US and the Canadian embassies. Around the same time, many multinational corporations established their head offices in the area.

Most notable areas

Bond Street - One of London's major shopping streets, Bond Street has been attracting the city's fashionites since the 18th century. The road is one of the most expensive streets in the world in terms of real estate and high end retail such as Louis Vuitton, Armani, Gucci, Mulberry and Prada can all be found there.

Park Lane - Running alongside Hyde Park from Marble Arch to Hyde Park Corner, Park Lane's past has been exclusive residential homes with some of the biggest private Mansions in the city. These mansions are mostly now 5 start hotels and the 'lane' now has a mix of real estate and high end car dealers spread along it.

Berkeley Square - Formerly one of the most expensive residential areas in London, and the childhood home of Winston Churchill, this prestigious address is now 95% commercial buildings with major companies such as Rolls Royce holding their head office there.

Saville Row - Known as the golden mile of tailoring, Saville Row is home to London's top tailors who have fashioned a long list of aristocrats, high society and political figures since the 19th century.