Sell House Fast
Chinatown, London

A direct buyer for Chinatown homeowners

Homeowners in Chinatown who are considering a direct sale can contact LDN Properties for a cash offer on flats and houses across the SW1A, SW1Y and W1F postcode area. We are typically happy to consider properties regardless of lease length, condition, share of freehold or cladding status. Selling directly through us removes the chain and the open-market viewings, with no agency fees and usually only one in-person visit needed before we put forward our final offer.

We have been buying property directly across London since 2003 and are members of The Property Ombudsman (membership D12463), which provides independent oversight of our quick property buying service. You can read more about how our buying process works, the typical timings for a direct sale and the costs involved when selling directly compared with using an estate agent or auction. To discuss your Chinatown property, please call 020 7183 3022 or request a no-obligation offer online.

When a direct cash sale makes sense

We are LDN Properties, a direct cash buyer operating across London since 2003. A few recurring situations lead homeowners to look at a direct sale rather than the open market.

Properties that need significant work are one of the more common reasons homeowners look at a direct sale. Estate agents typically advise spending on repairs and presentation before listing — a route that can run to tens of thousands of pounds and several months — and many sellers would prefer to sell the property as it stands. We are typically happy to consider properties in their current condition, including those with structural issues, damp, dated services or significant cosmetic work outstanding.

Problem properties sit in a similar bracket: non-standard construction, cladding under review, lapsed planning, boundary disputes or other issues that tend to put off open-market buyers and their mortgage lenders. We are typically happy to consider these alongside straightforward stock.

Personal circumstances make up the balance of the reasons we hear — probate, divorce, relocation, financial difficulty, downsizing and ill-health. Flats with shorter leases also come up regularly, particularly where a formal extension would be expensive; our short-lease guide covers that situation in more detail.

The Chinatown property market

The property landscape across Chinatown and the streets bounded by Shaftesbury Avenue, Wardour Street and Charing Cross Road is dominated by Georgian and early-Victorian terraces with upper-floor flats above ground-floor restaurants, supermarkets and bakeries. Gerrard Street, Lisle Street, Macclesfield Street, Newport Place and Wardour Street form the spine of the quarter, with most residential stock comprising small to medium-sized flats on the first to fifth floors above commercial use. The pedestrianisation of Gerrard Street in 1985 and the installation of the ornamental Chinese gates further reinforced the area's distinctive character.

Recent Land Registry transactions across the W1D postcode typically show studio flats trading between £425,000 and £625,000, one-bedroom flats between £625,000 and £925,000 depending on floor and aspect, and two-bedroom flats commonly between £975,000 and £1.6 million. Lease length, the use class of the ground-floor tenant and the building's fire-safety position all influence pricing materially. Many of the post-war leases granted on conversions are now sitting between 55 and 95 years remaining, with anything below 80 years bringing the property into marriage value territory. Our guide to selling a short lease flat sets out the options in detail. Section 20 major works notices and EWS1 cladding requirements can also surface on the larger blocks.

Transport links and local amenities

Chinatown is served by Leicester Square station on the Piccadilly and Northern lines on the south side of the quarter, and Tottenham Court Road station on the Central, Northern and Elizabeth lines around five minutes to the north on Charing Cross Road. Piccadilly Circus on the Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines is a four-minute walk west. The Elizabeth line link from Tottenham Court Road provides fast cross-London journeys to Paddington in around eight minutes and to Canary Wharf in around fourteen minutes.

Local bus routes along Shaftesbury Avenue, Charing Cross Road and Wardour Street include the 14, 19, 24, 29, 38, 176 and N5, giving extensive connections across central London. The Curzon Soho cinema, the four pedestrian gates marking the entrances to Gerrard Street, the Wong Kei restaurant on Wardour Street and the Hippodrome Casino on the corner of Cranbourn Street are the immediate landmarks. Leicester Square gardens and the West End theatre district lie immediately to the south and east.

About Chinatown

Chinatown is a central London neighbourhood in the borough of Westminster, situated within the W1D postcode and the surrounding W1F and WC2H sectors, bounded by Shaftesbury Avenue to the north, Charing Cross Road to the east, Leicester Square to the south and Wardour Street to the west, between Covent Garden to the east and Soho to the north. The present Chinatown was established from the late 1960s onwards as Chinese-Hong Kong restaurants and businesses moved from an earlier cluster in Limehouse in east London. Gerrard Street was pedestrianised in 1985 and the four red, green and gold pedestrian gates that now mark the entrances were added in stages between 1985 and 2016.

The area sits within the Soho Conservation Area, and many of the Georgian and Victorian terraces along Gerrard Street, Lisle Street and Wardour Street carry Grade II listed status under Historic England, which can require formal listed-building consent for internal works affecting historic fabric. Article 4 directions apply across parts of Soho, removing some permitted development rights and restricting changes of use at street level. Westminster City Council operates a special policy area for the Chinatown quarter to protect its commercial character, and the London Chinatown Chinese Association coordinates many of the cultural events including the Chinese New Year celebrations each February.