Rich Asian investors have snapped up many of the apartments and townhouses on offer in the first phase of the project
More than 800 flats in the Battersea Power Station development in London have been sold for £675m.
The owners of the Grade II listed power station, which has lain dormant since it stopped generating electricity in 1983 despite numerous outlandish development plans, said they had exchanged contracts with buyers of 95% of the flats and townhouses in the first phase of the project.
Rob Tincknell, the developer's chief executive, said it had experienced "phenomenal interest" from buyers wanting a slice of the first phase Circus West development, which will stand between the power station and Chelsea Bridge.
Circus West will contain 866 properties ranging from £338,000 for a studio to up to £6m for one of 12 penthouses.
Estate agents involved in the sale said many of the prime plots in the development have been bought by rich overseas buyers.
The Malaysian consortium that bought the site for £400m last summer declined to state the nationalities of the buyers. Many of the properties are likely to have been bought by Asia-based investors since the development went on sale in Kuala Lumpur as well as London in January.
Tincknell has previously said: "Our buyers are from all over the world and they're attracted by the uniqueness of the building."
Recent research by property broker Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) found that overseas buyers accounted for more than half of London's new home-buyers last year.
The JLL study found foreign buyers bought £3bn worth of London residential property in 2012 – a 25% increase on the previous year. Six out of seven foreign buyers planned to let out their properties, the research said.
"Post-credit crunch it's much harder to get bank debt but with 30% to 40% of units sold 'off plan' to foreign buyers, that triggers work on the development," Adam Challis, JLL's head of residential research, said. "Without international investors most residential developments in London wouldn't happen and the housing crisis in the capital would be even greater."
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| The latest plans for the redevelopment of the Grade II listed former power station, which stopped generating electricity in 1983. |
The foreign invasion into London's property market is most stark at the high end, with most of the apartments in One Hyde Park bought through offshore companies.
Russians bought 8.5% of all London properties worth more than £2m between March 2012 and March 2013, according to research by estate agent Knight Frank. Buyers from the United Arab Emirates, the US and China each accounted for 2.8%.
Construction work on the Circus West complex will start in July and is due to be completed in 2017.
Malaysian construction firm SP Setia and Sime Darby, Malaysia's biggest conglomerate and the world's biggest palm-oil producer, both own 40% of the development. Malaysia's Employees Provident Fund pension fund owns the remaining 20%.
The Malaysian consortium bought the site out of administration for £400m last summer. Previous failed plans for the power station, which famously features on the cover of Pink Floyd's 1977 album Animals with a giant pig floating between its chimneys, included converting it into a theme park, a nightclub and a new ground for Chelsea football club.
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Article source : http://www.guardian.co.uk
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