Foxtons founder Jon Hunt was today sitting on a multi-million-pound profit after short-selling shares in troubled developer Hammerson.

The property tycoon, who sold the London estate agency chain for £370 million in 2007 as the housing boom reached its climax, borrowed a 0.45% stake in Hammerson - about 1.3 million shares - betting the stock will fall.

When Hammerson launched its rights issue on Monday, which forced Hunt to disclose his position, the shares were trading at 397p, making his position worth £5.2 million.

This represents a substantial profit for Hunt given that the stock has crashed by a third so far this year, more than half in the past five months and three-quarters since its peak nearly two years ago.

Hunt today said he has been bearish on commercial property since the end of 2006 when he did a sale and leaseback on Foxtons' offices.

It was unclear when Hunt took the bet, but he would be sitting on about £10 million if he went short in mid-2007 when Hammerson shares were trading at 1200p.

His position emerged under stock market rules after Hammerson, which owns the Brent Cross shopping centre, Birmingham's Bullring and offices across London, launched a £584.2 million rights issue to shore up its creaking finances. A further eight investors also disclosed short positions in Hammerson following news of the fundraising, including Tiger Global, run by legendary hedge fund manager Julian Robertson; Blue Ridge Capital, managed by Robertson's ex-right-hand man John Griffin; and Maverick Capital, founded by hedge fund pioneer Lee Ainslie.

Hammerson is one of the most short-sold stocks in the FTSE 100. Hunt, a 55-year-old father of four, was lauded for getting out of Foxtons at the top of the housing market, so the fact he is betting against the commercial market will come as a blow to the beleaguered sector.

He said: "There is nothing wrong with Hammerson but I think they are in the wrong place in the market right now. I'm not a gambler. Then again you don't have to be Einstein to work out that retail is not a particularly clever place to be.