CONSTRUCTION work on nearly 100 new homes in Southampton city centre is due to start early next year after land was sold for £3.2 million.

Some 98 flats will be built in two buildings, along with a gym for residents and ground-floor retail space at the site of old offices between High Street and Castle Way.

Planning permission was granted in April last year for the scheme - but work has not yet started.

READ MORE: Plan to build 98 flats, a gym, and shops at Southampton city centre site approved

KMRE Group - which took the scheme through planning approval at the city council - sold the land to developer Hartdene Properties for £3.2 million in April this year.

The developer told the Echo it is continuing work on clearance of the planning conditions before starting construction 

It added said it “hopes” that work will begin in the first quarter of 2024 - nearly two years after they were given the go-ahead.

In February 2021 almost 2,000 cannabis plants with a value of £3.8m were seized when police raided two disused buildings that currently occupy the site.

Two men were initially arrested on suspicion of producing a Class B drug, but police later said they were being treated as potential victims.