Chiswick tops the shop-rent charts

Average rents in the area have soared by 13% in the past three years - three times the national average.

West London's housing boom is one reason for the rise. Consumers have upped their spending as spiralling house prices make them feel rich.

'Chiswick has seen tremendous equity build-up in house values,' said Bryan Duncan of Donaldsons, the property agency behind the research. 'The extra spending power in the top-performing areas like Lavender Hill and Putney has pulled in lifestyle retailers willing to pay more expensive rents to capture their share of a growing retail market.'

Oxford Street has long been considered one of the world's top five retail areas by property developers but even the Marble Arch end is stagnating. Rents have grown by just 4.3% since 1998 as retailers pursue trendier sites in Soho and Covent Garden.