Last summer, three, four and five-bedroom houses in these prime locations were letting from £2,500 a week, but job cuts and recruitment freezes in the City and across the rest of Central London has resulted in a lack of corporate relocation, which previously accounted for up to 70% of the market.
Louisa Woodbridge, Lettings Partner at Cluttons' Belgravia office, comments: "Landlords in prime locations, including Chelsea and Belgravia, are having to be realistic about rents, which, without the usual flow of European and American relocation tenants, have dropped back to 2006 levels.
"Middle-market tenants are taking advantage by moving from areas such as Clapham, Battersea, Fulham, West Hampstead and Docklands into sought-after locations which they couldn't previously afford. They can't believe they can live in a good-sized property in the centre of the city without facing a rise in rent."
