Property News Desk

West End prime real estates is booming, with the news that Chanel, the luxury retail brand, has secured a flagship store on Bond Street in a record £4 million cash to rent the premises.

Chanel is believed according to reports in the FT to have, paid "a near record rent for a building of its size", showing that expensive parts of the capital continue to boom, despite the gloom on the rest of Britain’s high streets.

Bond Street and other "prime locations" in the capital have not been affected by the economic downturn, with strong trading helped by tourists and overseas residents in London taking advantage of the historically low value of sterling.

The "prime residential markets" in London have also shown record deals being done recently, contrasting with figure that show that the average price of a UK property fell to £169,347 from £170,111 last month, according to the figures published by Nationwide Building society.