DEVELOPERS plan to flood Liverpool’s ailing city centre property market with more than 700 new apartments.

Last night, parties behind two ambitious waterfront projects said they were close to resolving outstanding financial issues and were expecting to proceed.

The nation’s highest residential skyscraper, King Edward Tower, and New World Square at the Pier Head will cost a combined £260m and add a further 774 apartments.flood the Liverpool market with

Raising finance has affected both schemes, and news of their continuation was greeted with incredulity by some Liverpool estate agents who have seen the city flats market severely dented by the economic downturn.

One said: “This is not just being ambitious, it’s downright strange. Even if they can get money to build, the bank’s aren’t lending to buyers at the moment.”

Both projects have been on the drawing-board for some time, but plans to start work last year were thwarted by a number of factors including bank lending. But now both sets of developers claim they hope to progress the schemes this year.

King Edward Tower, a joint venture between Y1 and Richmont, is a 54-storey giant overlooking Princes Dock that attracted the wrath of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) because of design ethics.

Architect Martin Birkett, of Leach Rhodes Walker, said: “We have been working closely with the landowners, developers and the city council to take on board the concerns that have been raised and are addressing comments made by CABE.

“We are hoping that, in due course, we will be able to go through the planning process.”

He added that raising finance had been an issue, but should not affect the long-term viability of the £130m scheme.

Last year, Jim Gill, chief executive of regeneration agency Liverpool Vision, said the era of tall buildings was over – a remark contested by developers.