You'll have to fork out between £500,000 and £1.4m for a flat at Ealing 's new Filmworks development... so the question is: how many Londoners will actually be able to afford them?

St George Plc has insisted it is putting Londoners first in the development which will include a brand new eight-screen Picturehouse cinema , despite the flats being marketed as far away as Malaysia.

But questions have been asked about who will actually get to buy the 209 homes in the development, which will also include restaurants, shops and public spaces.

West Acton Residents' Association tweeted a picture of an advert for the flats in a Malaysian newspaper with the comment: "Ealing Filmworks - not even built yet and already being sold off to overseas investors in Malaysia! So much for homes for Londoners!"

Prices for the flats range from £529,950 to £1,374,950, so most of them are unlikely to appeal to Londoners looking for affordable housing.

But 43 of the homes are being offered at a discounted market rate and a spokesman for the St George Plc - which is part of the Berkeley Group - says it has a UK-first marketing policy.

"We are fully committed to providing the opportunity for UK residents to purchase homes first in all of our developments," they said.

“The homes at Filmworks were launched in the UK in April 2018 from our marketing suite in Ealing, which is open seven days-a-week between 10am to 6pm. We have a designated on site sales team, show home and model of the development."

Council leader Julian Bell says he has "pushed them hard" to get as many affordable homes as possible.

But he admits the council alone "simply couldn't afford" to provide the homes and the cinema that the town so badly wants.

"You have to take a pragmatic approach. We recognise that many of the homes are at market rates and that's unaffordable for Ealing residents but they have put in £100m investment in this project. You have to accept the private sector will be part of the solution," he said.

A CGI image of the how the cinema will look at the Filmworks development. Pic: St George Plc. Clear for use by all BBC newswire partners.
A CGI image of the how the cinema will look at the Filmworks development in Ealing

Mr Bell added after visiting the site last week he is "absolutely delighted" with the progress, especially since it's ten years since the previous cinema was knocked down and there has been a series of delays including previous developers pulling out.

The St George Plc spokesman added: “We are committed to the delivery of the Filmworks redevelopment, comprising 209 homes, including 43 Discount Market Sale homes for local people, over 37,000 sq ft of shops, cafes and restaurants, and a new eight-screen Picturehouse Cinema – something which has been missing from Ealing for a decade.

"On completion, over one third of Filmworks will be open space for the residents and wider community to enjoy, including new streets and a landscaped public square.

"We continue to make good progress with construction on site with the cinema, which is anticipated to be delivered in Autumn 2020 and the overall development completed in early 2021.”