Some 215 “affordable” starter homes, specifically designed for first time buyers, sold out in just three hours on Thursday night, after dozens of aspiring homeowners camped overnight and queued in bad weather to get their hands on the flats.
The starter home flats at Trinity Square by Galliard Homes went for a combined £60million, or an average of £700 per sq ft.
Londoners looking for affordable housing did not hesitate to camp out for up to two days to snag a flat, despite the fact that the project will not be complete for another two years.
At a starting price of £199,000, it is considerably less than the typical £500,000 London home value, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The sales speed broke record in the capital new homes market. At £20 million per hour it equates to almost £335,000 per minute.
Galliard Homes say that this is the fastest sell out the company has done in 10 years and underlines the huge demand and lack of affordable housing in London.
“Trinity Square is part of our ‘Get on the Ladder’ Campaign to provide hundreds of new homes priced below £300,000 in order to help Londoners get a foot on the housing ladder,” said Stephen Conway, Chief Executive of Galliard Homes. “We are proud to continue our role in providing much-needed housing and contributing to the regeneration of London.”
However, buyers were split. Half were owners occupiers while the others were investors likely to rent out the flats for profit.
The development, located in the former American Airlines European headquarters building, built in the 1980s provides a total of 228 apartments.
But 13 apartment were held back from sale to be sold to existing clients of Galliard Homes
London in now more than 20 per cent expensive than it was 10 years ago, according to the Living Wage Foundation.
