Bargain hunters cram outside Wharfside Point South, Limehouse

HUNDREDS of people slept on the pavements of London Limehouse last weekend ­desperate for the doors of a plush new development to swing open. They weren’t queuing for the first X Factor auditions, but to buy a home.

They had caught wind of what has to be the best property deal seen in London this century.

One and two-bedroom ­apartments with a “spectacular skyline view” were on sale at half their original price: one-beds at £164,995 (down from £377,900) and two-beds at £230,000 (from £474,600).

The corridors of Wharfside Point South, just north of Limehouse Basin in east ­London, were crammed with eager, flustered and tense bargain hunters.

In two days, a buying frenzy ensued with first-time buyers biting the hands off developer Galliard Homes for all but one of the 167 properties.

The flats were originally sold in 2007 by another company, when the market was on a cliff-edge.

When banks withdrew mortgage offers, demanding a greater deposit as security, many of the individuals tied up in the purchases defaulted.

And later many of the individuals lost their 10 per cent deposit, and failed to complete.

Tim Wright, from developer King Sturge, says: “Anyone who bought off-plan prior to the crash and wanted to ­complete the purchase­ later found the goalposts of mortgage availability had moved, but the original sale price was fixed.”

However, Galliard’s fire sale has shown that the public’s appetite for property hasn’t diminished. “We saw many first-time buyers financed by the bnk of mum and dad,” says Galliard’s sales director David Galman.

Wright adds: “It’s great news for consumer ­confidence. It’s one of those ­moments in time that people will look back on and agree that it made a difference.”

But not everyone is happy. Estate agents fear that ­slashing prices will bring down values in the area. One described the prices as “close to build cost”, pointing out that the market rate for a comparable one-bed flat is £220,000. Agents are hoping the sale is a one-off.

But Galliard has another one up its sleeve. On 27 and 28 June, properties at the new Bath House development in Barking will be on offer for 27 per cent less than their original price. One-bed flats are on sale from £140,000 (down from £190,000) while two-beds are £165,000 (from £225,000). Everything must go by September.

Barking may not have the cachet of being a stone’s throw from Canary Wharf, but the Olympic site is an ­enthusiastic pole-vault away.

Like the Limehouse ­development, the original Bath House buyers defaulted to a man once their credit had been crunched.

So if you are hoping to make the mad dash for Bath House, good luck. And ­remember: elbows up, head down and when the lifts are busy, the fire escape is your friend.

An earlier version of this article stated that the flats were originally sold in 2007 to Trinity Capital. In fact, Trinity Capital were not involved with the purchase of the development."