With £20 million in sales from the three weekend launches, Hooke and MacDonald are stepping up the pace next weekend with four launches, one in Swords, another in Belfast and two in Scotland. The agency expects an early sell-out of the remaining 24 apartments in Bradbury Court, a refurbished building near Queens University, in Belfast. The first 74 units were sold within two days when they were launched last September.

Prices range from £77,950 sterling for one-bedroom units to £107,950 for two-bed apartments. Two-bed units on lower floors start at £96,950. Bradbury Court is in South Belfast in a building beside the City Hospital which was formerly known as Erskine House. The apartments will doubtless be of interest to parents with students at Queens, because they are within a five minute walking distance of the university. Shaftesbury Square and Botanic Avenue are only minutes away.

Stamp duty - at the rate of 1 per cent - is payable on the apartments. A private gymnasium is included and residents also get a car-park space included in the price.