Home buyers are forking out £20,000 for underground parking spaces linked to new canalside apartments in a property hotspot in North Oxford.

Berkeley Homes is selling the 200 underground spaces with the two and three-bedroom apartments at Oxford Waterfront, on the site of the old Lucy's factory in Walton Well Road.

There are 68 apartments, which cost from £340,000 to £540,000, with six pent- houses selling at £800,000.

Berkeley Homes spokesman Louise Ashurst said: "It costs £20,000 for one parking space, and £27,500 for two tandem parking spaces, where one vehicle blocks another in. The spaces are an additional cost when people buy the homes but it means they do not have to worry about permit parking.

"It's safe, secure underground parking and adds to the re-sale value of the homes. A few potential buyers baulked at the cost of the parking spaces and were put off because they thought it would be included in the price of the property but for others it was a welcome addition to the package."

Staff at the sales suite in Juxon Street said some buyers were London commuters, while others were investors, or buyers "downsizing" to take advantage of the city centre location.

Georgina Wloszowicz, 36, of Plater Drive, said she paid £5,000 for a parking space when she bought her Berkeley Homes house seven years ago.

She said: "We could have bought two spaces and now I wish we had. It was additional to the sale price but I think it was worth it, and I can understand residents wanting to secure a parking space. I have got two young children, and it is not very convenient if you can't park outside your home.

"I have got friends in Kingston Road, who often have to park quite a distance away."

Colin Cook, Labour city councillor for Jericho and Osney, said: "I'm astonished that people are prepared to pay this much for a parking space, but with the county council proposing to charge for parking permits, they will have a real advantage over those who have to park on-street.

He said all major new developments had to provide off-street parking, according to the Local Plan, and these residents would not be eligible for permits.

Rameen Firoozan, divisional managing director for Berkeley Homes, said: "The car park will have security cameras, lighting and roller shutter doors, and we are achieving the planning objective to remove cars from the streets."

Green city councillor Craig Simmons added: "The way to reduce the number of cars on the streets is to have a car-free development, not one that only the rich can afford."