According to property research group Molior London, of the 5,500 new houses and flats sold in London between January and September 2009 some two-thirds were purchased as buy-to-let properties.

The figures were revealed by Tim Craine of Molior London at a seminar for those who specialise in the residential development market in the Capital, where he revealed that overseas investors purchased 1,500 of these new residential properties. He commented that overseas buyers have an "important part to play".

A further third were bought by landlords based in the UK, with the majority of the new properties purchased in areas such as Dalston and the Docklands. These areas generally have residents who rent as oppose to bu