Six out of ten new tenants of prime property in central London in the past 12 months have had an international background, new data shows.

Real estate firm Knight Frank says that the largest share of prime lots have gone to US, French and Italian expatriates.

Over the past 12 months, the main international buyers in London were from Russia, India, Italy, the US and France, according to Knight Frank research.

Prime central London rents fell by 0.4 per cent in August, taking the annual decline to 1.7 per cent. Knight Frank said rents have fallen more for houses, with a 2.9 per cent drop in the year to August, than for apartments, which have fallen by 1.7 per cent over the same period.

Meanwhile, prime central London property prices rose 0.5 per cent in August to a new record high, taking the annual growth to just under 10 per cent. The 1.8 per cent price growth in the three months to August, however, represents the lowest three-month growth figure since November 2010. Price growth in the year to August was stronger for apartments than for houses.

In a residential review for the autumn, Knight Frank said that central London house prices have risen by 49 per cent since March 2009 and are 14 per cent above their previous peak of March 2008. The firm also said that Miami is the only major global city to have outperformed London in terms of price growth over the past year.