Prime property in London could be in high demand in the coming years as wealthy individuals from emerging markets turn to the UK rather than traditional tax havens such as Switzerland.

Speaking at the Citywire South West retreat, Dr Pippa Malmgren of Principalis said that Switzerland is 'closed for business' and Luxembourg and Belgium are going the same way, making London look all the more attractive to buyers from the Middle East and Asia.

"In the UK, what you charge for non-domiciled people to be a tax resident is the least expensive. So people would sell flats in China and buy in London," she added.

Lulu Egerton, a Partner based at Strutt and Parker's Chelsea office, supported this view, stating that money is coming in to London from areas of the world which have never traditionally been wealthy, for example Mongolia, where incredible natural resources have been discovered, and these individuals are looking to invest their cash in prime London property as it is seen as a safe haven.

In terms of which areas will benefit from this attention from emerging markets, Ms Egerton picked out Mayfair, noting that many office buildings will turn back to residential dwellings.

"Mayfair boasts such fabulous streets all centred around Berkeley Square which will come into its own, and similarly up and down St James' will start to command prices that reflect the importance of the area," she added.

And it seems unlikely that the trend will dwindle at any time in the near future, with data from the Boston Consulting Group, cited in the Candy & Candy Global Prime Sector Report, forecasting that global wealth will increase by up to 5% per year from approximately $122 trillion to $150 trillion by 2017, meaning there will be plenty more people on the hunt for prime property in a safe haven such as London in the years to come.