New Bond Street is Europe's most expensive shopping location

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Nov 13, 2019

New Bond Street is the most expensive street in Europe for retail rents and also the third most expensive globally, a new report shows.

The shopping thoroughfare, which hosts flagship boutiques for the biggest global luxury brands, is only beaten in terms of higher rents by Causeway Bay in Hong Kong and Upper 5th Avenue in New York.

That's according to a ranking from property consultancy Cushman and Wakefield. It said that New Bond Street rents are around $1,714/£1,335 per square foot and have increased by 2.3% in the last 12 months. 

Causeway Bay is the world’s most expensive street and rents there are $2,745 per square foot, or £2,133. Upper 5th Avenue in New York rents cost $2,250 per square foot.

After New Bond Street, Avenue des Champs Elysées in Paris is fourth at $1,478, ahead of Milan’s Via Montenapoleone in fifth place at $1,447.

Peter Mace, head of central London retail at Cushman & Wakefield, said New Bond Street rents have held up well compared to those in nearby Oxford Street and Regent Street because of the street’s completely luxury positioning. It has also been relatively unaffected by the rise of online retail as the ultra-luxury items available there are more likely to be sold in person than over the internet.

That has kept demand for the roughly 145 shops on the street very high. And just how high can be seen from the fact that rents there are around 10 times the cost of an equivalent on Scotland's most important shopping street, Princes Street in Edinburgh.