Even as the bricks are being laid on a £400,000 project to build four units at a York industrial estate, three have been sold.

Collage impression of new industrial buildings on the Northminster business park, Upper Poppleton

The attraction of the new 3,000sq ft spaces at Northminster business park in Northfield Lane, Upper Poppleton, is precisely because they are for sale and not for rent, claims the developer.

Andrew Eccles, director of Northminster Properties, which is also revamping a 36,000sq ft building nearby at a further cost of £100,000, said: "There is a huge demand for owned rather than rented premises at the small to medium end.

"New premises tend to be owned by large institutions seeking regular revenue from rents, but business people often don't want to be tied to a lease, preferring a growing asset."

The purchasers include a household equipment supplier and D Wombwell & Son, furniture and fine arts auctioneers. Completion is expected in March.

The site, formerly a warehouse and distribution centre sold by Challis to Northminster in 1997, has already attracted five companies. They are Bounty Arts, nautical model wholesalers, Jarvis Facilities, the track-laying and rail maintenance laying organisation which has its archive there, Thermotech, joiners and shopfitters, RAW Business Connections which provides staging and displays for conferences, and Alphasound, the business conferencing equipment firm.

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