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North American teen student to rent Mayfair flat for £21,000 per week, says Wetherell

Agency says wealthy students from the Middle East, North America, Asia, and Africa are more than willing to spend over £2,000 per week for luxurious apartments in Mayfair

Aftab Ali
Student Editor
Monday 28 September 2015 17:23 BST
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The student's living room in Fountain House
The student's living room in Fountain House (Wetherell)

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As students and graduates from across London continue to be squeezed out of the property market, falling into the category of Generation Rent, one particular group of young people will know no such fate this academic year, according to a high-end estate agent.

Mayfair property specialists, Wetherell, has revealed how overseas students living in the West London area are a world away from everyday UK students living in ‘normal’ digs, with a 19-year-old North American design student recently taking up a property on Park Lane – for £21,000 per week.

Overlooking Hyde Park, preconceptions of shoe box rooms, creaky floor boards, questionable stains, and temperamental plumbing and heating are being cast aside for now as Wetherell added how 80 per cent of enquiries for the six Fountain House pads have come from abroad.

The dining room and kitchen
The dining room and kitchen (Wetherell)
Bedroom
Bedroom (Wetherell)
Vast views of Hyde Park
Vast views of Hyde Park (Wetherell)

Rivalling even City workers and advertising directors, the agent highlighted how wealthy students from the Middle East, North America, Asia, and Africa are more than willing to fork out over £2,000 per week for luxurious apartments in Mayfair – all in line with generous six-figure allowances.

According to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), there are some 107,000 international students studying in London, 40,000 from continental Europe, and 67,000 from the rest of the world.

Spending £1.32bn each year on tuition fees, £1.36bn on accommodation and subsistence (£600 million on private lets or halls of residence costs), and £121m through family visiting them in London, Wetherell said the largest group of international students come from China, making up 18 per cent of all foreign students in the capital.

Other significant foreign student nationalities come from Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Pakistan, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates, the agent added.

The chief executive of Wetherell, Peter Wetherell, described how the newly refurbished apartments provide the perfect turn-key luxury-let and are available for immediate occupation.

He added: “They would be perfect for a wealthy student, or are ideal for a City stockbroker, successful lawyer or couple wanting a London home. This is part of Mayfair’s residential revival – these properties are reverting back after decades of use as offices.”

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