Milton Court restart signals housing sector upturn

Work is set to restart on a 35-storey residential tower in the City of London as signs start to emerge that confidence is returning to the private housing market.

The £190m Milton Court scheme in the Barbican Centre was put on hold by developer Heron last summer.

Groundworks on the site were started by Ardmore and the firm is expected to fight it out with rivals including Laing O'Rourke, Mace and Skanska for the lump-sum job which is expected to take 30 months to complete.

Heron has received planning permission for a marketing suite for the apartments which will be built next to the site and open early next year.

A spokesman said: "Heron has been busy working on completing the detailed design and preparing the tender package. We will be unveiling the cast list when everyone returns from their summer holidays."

Work involves building a tower of 284 apartments above a new concert hall and theatre for the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The move is the latest sign of life in the private residential market which has been decimated since the credit crunch started.

Irish developer Ballymore is believed to be raising £500m to fund a development programme including the restart of a series of schemes including Manchester's Piccadilly Tower.

And figures released by the Communities and Local Government department last week showed that housing starts during the second quarter of this year rose 63% on the previous quarter.

Home Builders Federation director of economic affairs John Stewart said: "The figures provide further support for the more positive housing market reports we have seen in recent weeks, and show that home building industry confidence is gradually improving."

RICS senior economist Brigid O'Leary said: "This provides further evidence that the dramatic scaling back in housebuilding activity since the onset of the credit crunch has probably run its course.

"A second consecutive increase in housing starts in the private sector seemed likely after, earlier in the year, some major housebuilders noted that their inventory was being run-down and that they were considering restarting some mothballed projects."