Estate agents in London will need to have their wits about them now that Sir Alan Sugar has announced that he is to concentrate his business dealings on the property market.

The star of the BBC's The Apprentice recently pocketed £34.8 million following the £125 million takeover of Amstrad, the electronics firm which made his name.

While the businessman has stated that he missed out on the property boom in the capital during his time as chairman of Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, he told the Sunday Times that he still believes that London will still experience substantial growth over the next few years, largely driven by foreign investment.

"Throughout my career I have invested in property as security and seen the electronics as the risky part of my business," he told the newspaper.

"I've got £300million of property, mostly in trophy buildings around London, and I don't owe a penny.

"If this were leveraged properly it could be £3 billion overnight. I need to put these assets to work, raise equity and become a proper real-estate trader."

The National Housing Federation recently claimed that the average price of a home in London could rise to almost £500,000 by 2012, a 40 per cent increase on current prices.