SEVEN high quality offices on which the finishing touches are being put in Upper Poppleton are being marketed for sale - a clear indication of the increasing demand by growing companies for owner occupation.

The two-storey offices - the next phase of the Northminster Business Park development - will sell at about £140 per square foot. That equates to about £231,000 for the smallest dubbed Box Tree House to £745,000 for a 5,325 sq ft block, named Cedar House.

One of the offices - Oak Tree House - has already been sold through DTZ Debenham Tie Leung but the York commercial property agency is also prepared to look at leasing terms on the basis of £12.50 per sq ft.

The development, flanked by Northfield Lane on the very edge of the 10.5 acre site on the A 59 boasts raised floors, computer-friendly lighting, shower facilities, gas central heating, an intruder alarm and car parking plus tree planting which correlates to their arboreal names.

Matthew Tootell, of DTZ, said: "The number of inquiries has been huge. Almost as standard we ask them whether their preference is to lease or buy and often they want to buy, preferring to take advantage of the prevailing low interest rates and attracted by the notion of paying for an asset rather than renting.

"It is also a sign that the local and regional economy is ticking over OK and that confidence remains buoyant."

The leafy names of the offices represents a doffing of the 'green' cap to the former owners of the site, Challis of York, the garden nursery company which used to have a warehousing depot there which housed about 15 million trays of plants every year.

Trees reflecting the varying names, such as Sycamore House, Beech House and Chestnut House have been planted.

The land was bought by Northminster Properties Ltd in May, 1997, parcelled into smaller sections and sold off. The developers then built a number of new industrial units ranging from 2,000 sq ft to 18,000 sq ft which were sold on.

Meanwhile, DTZ is finding the same demand for owner-occupied offices elsewhere in North Yorkshire.

It is offering either for sale or rent, 50,000 sq ft of offices being built on 1.7 acres at Scarborough's first office haven, the Gateway Business Park, where already the Scarborough Building Society's massive new HQ is taking shape.

Economic development officials in Scarborough believe that the new office park will represent a huge boost in jobs and confidence for the east coast town.