Stalled scheme to start with Dubai cash

WORK on a stalled residential block with 70 flats in Manchester’s Ancoats is expected to start soon after a Dubai investor bought it off-plan for £7m.

Manchester architect Hodder + Partners, also the agent on the scheme, has applied for a year’s extension to the planning consent.

A letter from Hodder says Dublin-based Bennett Construction sold the site “without profit” after failing to secure the required funds.

Associated documents show the the unnamed investor paid £1.87m for the plot, between Great Ancoats Street and Houldsworth Street, and it will cost £4.6m to build.

Cheadle Hulme-based builder Ladson has been hired to build the 12-storey block and expects to make nearly £600,000 on the deal, a net margin of 8.3%.

Ladson hopes to have the flats finished by early next year. The firm could not be reached for comment.