'Cheapest flat' in London sells for £79,000

Offer of £79,000 accepted by seller of tiny studio in Clapton. Photograph: Purplebricks

A flat that was marketed as the cheapest in London has been sold after attracting a flurry of offers from eager buyers.

An offer of £79,000 has been accepted by the seller of the tiny studio in Clapton, east London after 36 people viewed the property and nine made offers.

The property was sold for well below the £383,000 typically paid for a flat in the E5 postcode. Photograph: Purplebricks

The advert for the flat described it as “an exceptionally rare opportunity for a first-time buyer, landlord or commuter seeking a bolthole to purchase a property in a desirable part of London for the same price as a high-end family car”.

The agreed price is less than a fifth of the average cost of a home in the capital, and well below the £383,000 typically paid for a flat in the E5 postcode. However, with the property measuring just 75 sq ft, it still works out at more than £1,000 per square foot of living space. It is also enough to buy a family home in some parts of the country.

Here’s what else the same amount of money could buy: a four-bedroom terraced house in Middlesbrough, on sale for offers in the region of £80,000. Photograph: Zoopla

Simon Taylor from the online estate agent Purplebricks, which sold the property, said the number of offers reflected “the property’s desirability in a busy market”.

“This property is unique to the market here in London,” he said. “I wasn’t surprised at all by the excitement that the listing generated, particularly given the low cost and its easy access to the City and the West End.”

The buyer plans to rent out the property for six months of the year, and use it himself for the rest of the year.