More than 50 apartments in London were bought by Irish investors last weekend when the Irish-based company Ballymore launched its large-scale New Provident Wharf development in the docklands, pictured right. The company surprised the market by selling 160 homes over the weekend with a total value of around £58 million sterling.

Ballymore's London sales centre was crowded for much of the weekend and when the first 100 apartments were booked, company chief Sean Mulryan revised his plans and decided to release another 60 units. These were also sold by Sunday evening. A spokesman said that apart from the UK buyers "there was a steady stream of callers from Ireland" looking for both one and two-bedroom apartments.

Because of the high level of interest in the £500 million development, the company has now opted to take bookings for 80 apartments in Block C which has a particularly good orientation and is due to be completed in about 18 months. One-bedroom apartments are priced between £275,000 and £300,000 while two-bedroom homes will cost mainly from £390,000 to £440,000.

A good deal of the homes sold to date have gone to investors who expect to get strong rents due to the scarcity of homes in Canary Wharf and the docklands. Selling agents FPDSavills say that new homers are becoming much scarcer as available sites in the docklands are filled, with the number of homes being built down from 2,500 five years ago to 500 this year. The number of people working in the docklands exceeds 40,000 and is set to grow over the next few years.

One-bedroom apartments in the area are renting at between £350 and £400per week while two-bed units are making £450 to £475.

The 737 apartments planned for New Providence Wharf will be only one element of the scheme, which will cover an area of 17 acres. There will also be a 27-storey, five-star hotel, 500,000 sq ft of offices and a range of shopping, community and leisure facilities.