Pity the high-end estate agent this summer. Typically, they would expect plane-loads of holidaying Middle Eastern investors looking for a summer London pad to buy as they escape the searing heat in their homelands, where temperatures this year surpassed 60 degrees. But sales have not been as forthcoming this year because of the holy month of Ramadan, which began this week.

There have been some examples of sales this year. A penthouse duplex apartment at One Hyde Park, the luxury Knightsbridge block developed by the Candy Brothers, sold for a record £140m (€170m), reportedly to a Middle Eastern buyer.