Former NatWest tower for sale as City prices surge

In a sign that London property prices are booming again, the City's tallest occupied skyscraper, the former NatWest tower (pictured above under construction in 1964), is to be put up for sale this week and is expected to fetch more than £300m.

The 600ft block near the Bank of England was renamed Tower 42 in 1998, though it is still known to most Londoners as the NatWest tower. It was the capital's first real skyscraper when it was completed in 1980, a decade before One Canada Square at Canary Wharf and 22 years before Norman Foster's 'Gherkin'.

The tower is occupied by a number of tenants, including Daewoo Securities and Piraeus Bank, producing rental income of about £20m a year for its owners, Hermes and BlackRock. With property prices surging, they have opted to sell.

Property agents Jones Lang LaSalle confirmed to The First Post that the property will be marketed as of this week. According to the Financial Times, the site - which includes various low-rise adjacent buildings, among them the Grade-I listed Gibson banking hall - can be expected to fetch at least £300m. ·