The first wave of new homes at Battersea Power Station are set to go on sale tomorrow morning withprices for a studio starting at an eye-watering £338,000.

Contrary to many reports, Londoners are to be given the first chance to buy one of the initial 800 properties at the £5bn development with a mixture of studios, one, two and three bedroom apartments, family townhouses and penthouses going on the market.

Studios start from £338,000, one beds from £423,000, two beds from £613,000, three beds from £894,000 and the eight townhouses from just over £3 million.

But those prices pale into insignificance compared to the cost of one of the nine penthouses, many of which have sweeping, panoramic views of the Thames and central London.

These prices are expected to reach a minimum of £6m, but this figure could easily rise if many parties are interested.

Potential buyers will have to splash out £2,500 just to secure an offer, followed by a deposit of 10 per cent within the next four weeks.

The properties in the initial phase are due to be completed in 2016.

Rob Tincknell, chief executive of Battersea Power Station Development Company, said: "The building is awesome and there is value in that, having dominated the horizon for nearly 90 years.

"People are fascinated by it and want to be part of it. We also have the great advantage of a Northern line station within the site."

The properties going on the market tomorrow will be in blocks, due to be called Circus West, immediately to the west of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott’s grade II* listed power station.

All eight blocks will top out at 17-storeys apartments and all properties will have enclosed "winter gardens"

Architect Terry Farrell said: "Undoubtedly this is the most exciting new chapter in the story of London and quite possibly the last time the capital will see the creation of a completely new district, built where none existed before."

Once Londoners have had their pick of the properties, there is expected to be intense international interest from potential owners in south-east Asia and South America.

SP Setia and Sime Darby, the Malaysian developers who bought the derelict site for £400 million last year, plan to build more than 3,400 homes around the iconic art deco power station, which was built in 1933 and remains Europe’s largest brick building.

The restoration work will involve the removal of the power station's badly-corroded chimneys and replacement with "exact replicas" copied from the original architect drawings.

The project has been boosted by the Coalition Government’s £1bn support for a Northern line extension which will bring two new stations, one at Nine Elms and another at the power station site itself.

For more details, call 020 7501 0678 or visit batterseapowerstation.co.uk.