Savills Research finds than 82 percent of new-build buyers in Docklands are from the UK a higher proportion

Savills Research finds than 82 percent of new-build buyers in Docklands are from the UK, a higher proportion that anywhere else and quite unlike a development like County Hall which is almost all foreign owned. The criticism that British buyers of new- build are often only offered what is left over from a Far Eastern sales tour does not apply to Docklands, they say.Owner occupiers and investors do not always want the same things and developers of warehouse conversions know their market to be almost entirely local. The 10 to 15 per cent new build premium in these places is better guaranteed if the market does fall than in the cheaper properties. British buyers, normally reticent about buying off plan, increasingly are prepared to put their money down on a good quality development in a prime spot. It is a similar story at Barratt's Hermitage Waterside development, alongside St Katherine's Dock. No one has moved in yet, but half the 76 townhouses and apartments went almost immediately after release. It is an unusual building with high ceilings and huge windows, but has little in the way of river views.

Also up-market developments near Canary Wharf are pulling in prime central London buyers while Rotherhithe, believes Savills, could start to steal a march on the Isle of Dogs once the Jubilee line is up and running. We can even ring up the pub opposite to book Sunday lunch and they bring it over."It is in areas close to Tower Bridge like Butler's Wharf, St Katherine's Dock, riverside Wapping and parts of Limehouse, that most people moving to Docklands would choose to live. He notices that more people are spending their weekends in the area which gives it a new vibrancy."It's no longer like a ghost town Somewhere like Butler's Wharf is always busy now. After the appalling traffic in the West End it is quite peaceful here.

We still have an infrastructure problem and there is a massive shortage of things. Russell Taylor of Savills worked in Docklands for nine years before deciding a year ago to move with his wife and two-year-old son to a house in Limehouse."It is only recently that I stopped feeling defensive about the area. The demand for rentals continues to attract investors while good quality flats with long leases, river views and parking are drawing disaffected owners away from the traditional residential areas. Only last year they foresaw an oversupply of new homes in the Docklands. There is nothing to suggest the trend will slow. Savills Research, in a survey of major central London residential developments, sees supply drying up there within nine months if the current take-up continues, with those developments in the pipeline or at the planning stage representing only two to three years' supply. Over the past year the surge of buyers moving east has brought about a dramatic turnaround in the area.

Second-hand properties which have been languishing on agents' books are suddenly getting offers while developers are seeing half their stock disappear within days of a launch. Some vendors are asking ridiculous prices, according to agents, and anyone who fails to meet a deadline in a popular development will have the frustration of seeing the property sold on for about 5 per cent more. There is a bullishness among London's Docklands residents. That kind of thing.None of them will do this forever, they swear.

They say, 'take care of yourself', like mothers, very protective Not so the younger ones They say, 'get a job'. And the old people, they're just grumbling."Some customers, she says, can be "very wicked". For weeks after the Sun's notorious story about a vendor taking home pounds 1,000 a week, there were a lot of "get a job" remarks Then it all settled down again And now she's regained all her optimism She'd like to get a job in the music business. "You chat to your customers, you meet your regulars..." says Andy "You get to see loads of women," chirps John. Never miss a day."To Brian and John and to 28-year-old Andy, an ex-drug addict stationed outside Farringdon tube station, selling the Big Issue gives each day a focus.