Such astronomical figures had never been seen in London, a city in itself among the most expensive in Europe in terms of the real estate market. A 7-bedroom apartment in exclusive Mayfair is likely to set the record. In the period of the Olympic Games the owner will ask for 433 thousand pounds (about 520 thousand euros) per month. It is certainly not a simple English cottage. The luxury building is the size of three and a half tennis courts, spread over three floors and includes a swimming pool, a cinema and seven bathrooms. For those who don't want to stay the whole month, a reduced version is available: only 100 pounds per week.
And this figure is somewhat the trend for many other apartments in the center of the British capital. “These numbers have never been seen before in the rental market”, declared a London estate agent, “It is obviously due to the Olympics which will, as a general rule, transform monthly rents into weekly ones, to then return to normal after the Games". However a growing trend exists: since March 2009 the prices of luxury apartments have increased by almost 40%. According to a Knight Frank real estate agent, this trend was due to the outbreak of revolts in North Africa and the need of Arab tycoons to find safe havens for their wealth.
These expensive apartments are expected to be rented mainly by well-heeled Chinese, Middle Eastern and Russian people. London homeowners are raising rental prices by up to 6 times to try to offset the expected demand of an estimated 11 million sports fans for what will be the world's biggest sporting event.
In total the London rental market during the Olympics could be worth approx £ 314 million.
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