Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

The sale of Peterborough’s Northminster site to a mystery buyer is taking longer to complete than anticipated, it has been revealed.

Council chiefs had hoped the sale of the land to the buyer would be finalised by May 18 and had invoked emergency decision making powers to ensure the deal could be completed swiftly.

Now it has been revealed the target date has been missed although talks with the buyer, whose identity is a matter of commercial confidentiality, are still ongoing.

This image shows how the proposed apartment block in Northminster will appear once construction is completed.

A Peterborough City Council spokesperson, said: "This is a complex commercial deal and some outstanding details are still being finalised.

“It is expected that the contract will be signed by the end of the month.”

The spokesperson added: “May 18 was a date we were aiming towards.

The sale is still happening and we are hoping it will be completed by the end of the month but hopefully by the end of this week.”

This image shows how the proposed apartment block in Northminster in Peterborough will appear once construction is completed.

When the presence of a ‘third party’ willing to buy and develop the site was announced earlier this month, a council spokesperson said: “There will be third party involvement - a private developer will be buying the site and building the flats.

“Our proposed completion date is May 18.”

The sale is expected to generate a significant financial boost for the council, which is currently struggling to tackle a £27 million gap in its finances.

Northminster is one of eight key development sites that are expected to deliver a £600 million plus regeneration of Peterborough.

The land has approval for the construction of a nine storey block of 315 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments with two ground floor units to be used for leisure or hospitality.

The development will seek to encourage greater city centre living with all the apartments offered at discounted rents, set at or below 80 per cent of the normal market rate.

The development has been made possible with a £14 million grant from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.

Ality.

However, clearing the site for the development has involved the demolition of the Solstice nightclub, the relocation of Peterborough market, the demolition of a multi-storey car park and the axing of 12 trees in Laxton Square.

Multi-million pound sale of Peterborough's Northminster regeneration site misses target deadline