Ten of London's fire stations have been put on the market for conversion into homes, along with major public buildings in Knightsbridge and Westminster.

The move is part of a government drive to offload land and public buildings for housing development. Police stations, including New Scotland Yard, are up for grabs, too, along with high-profile former ministry buildings such as the old War Office in Whitehall.

A website enabling individuals, communities and businesses to submit online applications to buy sites is being set up, paving the way for thousands of new homes. Coinciding with this is part-privatisation of the Land Registry, the nation’s property data bank.

Planning permission for commercial-to-residential conversions has already been scrapped in most of the London boroughs, sparking a stampede to develop buildings across the capital.