Hot Property: Tiny Basement Boiler Room In London Expected To Sell For £250,000

A boiler room in the basement of a block of flats in central London is expected to sell for a staggering £250,000 when it goes up for auction.

The staggering figure - which is enough to buy a HOUSE in most parts of the country - is for the two-room basement which was previously used to provide heating and electricity for residents.

With modern equipment shrinking in size over the years, the block now has enough free space for the basement to be sold off - and converted into a tiny two-room apartment.

With 550 sq/ft, the finished flat, situated near Great Ormond Street, will be just over half the size of the average new home in England.

It will have one bedroom, an en-suite shower room and an open-plan kitchen/living room, as well as a hallway with space to store a bicycle.

Unbelievably, the price is seen as a bargain, with the average property in the capital selling for more than £500,000.

Plans: The boiler room is to be converted into an apartment (SWNS)

Robin Howeson, associate director at Savills auctions, described it as “an exciting development opportunity”.

The borough of Camden, where the boiler room is located, now has an average property price of £847,321 - more than four times the average price in England and Wales.

But while prices have gone up, sales have gone down with transactions in the capital dropping 20 per cent year-on-year, according to the most recent figures from the Land Registry.

Experts blame a lack of supply as well and high prices which make saving for a deposit increasingly difficult.

Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, said: “Prices are being squeezed up because of the lack of supply.

“It is a legacy of the last financial crisis which resulted in a shortage of housebuilding.

"The backlog of undersupply is now visible in the market and it will be interesting to see if the new developments help plug the gap.”