PROPERTY developers are expected to battle it out next week to pay more than £550,000 - for a ROOFTOP.

Savills Auctions is offering the unusual opportunity to buy the roofspace of a posh apartment block in Prime Central London.

It has been given the bumper price-tag because whoever buys it will get permission to add a new penthouse flat.

The result will be a luxury two-bedroom property in Drayton Gardens, Chelsea, worth around £1.6 million.

With a guide price of £560,000 and similar building costs, the investor who buys the rooftop at auction could net themselves a potential half-million pound profit before tax.

It will be auctioned off on February 13 at The Marriott, Grosvenor Square in London.

Plans for a new penthouse were approved by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council in June 2013.

The completed home will have a large living room, two bedrooms, both with en-suites, a kitchen and a third toilet.

Robin Howeson, a director of Savills Auctions, said: "It's very unusual for an opportunity to pop up in the middle of prime Chelsea like this.

"It has an estimate of £550,000 and build costs have been estimated at around £550,000 but at the end it should be worth around £1.6 million so it could be a really good investment.

"At the end you'll have a two-bedroom penthouse with good views. I could see it being bought by a developer or self-builder.

"It is a really interesting project to be involved in."

Research published last year suggested as many as 41,000 new homes could be built on rooftops in the capital.