£170,000 snooker table-sized flat is smallest ever residence

However, the buyers of this flat in West London might be well advised to keep the guest list as short as possible.

For the bolt hole has a living area the same size as a snooker table and only slightly bigger than a prison cell.

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At just 6ft by 12ft - plus a cupboard for a bathroom – it is the smallest property to go on the market in Britain.

Yet, amazingly, because the basement studio is in one of the capital's most fashionable districts – Chelsea – it is on sale for £170,000, £2,000 less than the average house price in England and Wales.

Even then, the buyer will need to splash out an extra £30,000 to make it habitable – including rewiring, refurbishing and redecorating.

The flat, in Cadogan Place, has been used as a cleaner's storeroom for the past 20 years. At the moment it is a grotty, rubblestrewn room with paint peeling off the walls and a rotting windowsill.

There is a shelf where a bunk bed could be placed, but the new owner will have to install a kitchenette and a bathroom.

Obviously, there is only room for one person – and if the buyer has a cat, there is barely room to swing it.

Even though the miniature flat went on sale only last Wednesday, six potential buyers have already looked round it and three have made offers – one matching the asking price. Estate agent Lane Fox, which is managing the sale, said the flat was ideal for someone who needed room for a housekeeper or au pair.

It might also attract those who need a cheap place to live during the week. Buy-to-let investors could rent it at up to £150 a week.

The firm's associate director, Jason North, said that after refurbishment work the flat would be worth £2,400 per square foot. This is double the £1,200 per square foot that is the average for Central London and dwarves the £232 in Brighton and £147 in Leeds.

The flat is owned by other residents in the building, who put it up for sale to recoup the cost of buying the property's freehold.

It is a short walk from the swanky shops, bars and restaurants in Sloane Square and less than a mile from Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park.

Mr North said: "The person who has matched the asking price is an investor who thinks it represents something that he can hold on to, do up and rent out.

"It is not much money in the general scheme of things. Knightsbridge is a short walk away and you could go shopping there and spend the same amount of money on a few designer dresses or you could have a new property."

The sale is another example of the huge prices homebuyers are willing to pay if the location is right.

The tiniest flat in Britain, in Pembridge Villas in trendy Notting Hill, West London, is a mere 62 square feet.

It was valued at £100,000 two years ago, although it has never been put on the market.

In December, Scotland's smallest property – 60 square feet and with no kitchen, shower or bath – sold for a remarkable £25,000, almost three times the asking price.

And in November last year a rundown garage in Dorset fetched £250,000.