WATERFRONT homes in Ipswich are set to blast through the billion-pound barrier, The Evening Star can reveal today.Thousands of homes are already built, under construction, or proposed for the Waterfront area of the town.

WATERFRONT homes in Ipswich are set to blast through the billion-pound barrier, The Evening Star can reveal today.

Thousands of homes are already built, under construction, or proposed for the Waterfront area of the town.

And with an average selling price pushing the quarter of a million pound mark, increasing property prices seem set to push the final value through the billion pound mark well before the last Waterfront property is occupied.

The rate of new home building is set to increase rapidly over the next few years as the largest new developments in the area start taking shape.

Guy Jenkinson is head of new homes for Bidwells in the East of England. Bidwells are involved in marketing many of the new homes that are coming on to the market and are also involved in helping to plan the overall development of the area.

Mr Jenkinson said: “The average cost of new homes in the Waterfront was £200,000, but now it is up to £220,000 and the chances are it will continue to increase.

“With 4,500 new homes built, under construction, or with planning permission, that will push the value of residential development in the area to the billion pound mark - and probably well beyond.”

And he pointed out that this figure did not include the rapidly-increasing number of commercial buildings that are going up. The Salthouse Harbour Hotel and Ipswich Haven Marina are now well established on the Waterfront.

But other new hotels, restaurants, and offices are also planned.

There will also be new homes for two of the town's best-known arts organisations - Dance East and the Red Rose Chain theatre group.

Brightly-coloured posters and a light show advertising the new Cranfield's venue have just appeared on the walls of the former flour mill - giving a clear indication of what is set to emerge on the site.

Ipswich council chief executive James Hehir said: "The fact that the Waterfront has broken through the billion pound mark proves what we have been saying all along - this is the beating heart of the new Ipswich and will bring welcome economic spin-offs for the rest of the town.

“The Waterfront is the biggest single regeneration project in the East of England and cements our position as a regional centre.

“The new university and Suffolk College will rejuvenate the area still further and generate even more activity."

N What do you think of the way the Waterfront is now looking? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

PANELS

Waterfront home facts:

Number of homes built so far: 670.

Number built, under construction, or with planning permission: 4,500

Value of homes built so far: £136 million.

Average cost of new Waterfront home: £220,000

Asking prices of Waterfront homes:

Two bedroomed flat, Neptune Marina (Redrow development) £185,000.

Two bedroomed flat, Stoke Quay £225,000.

Two bedroomed flat, Orwell Quay (Persimmon Homes) £235,000.

Two bedroomed flat, Neptune Quay (Bellway development) £240,000.

Sources: www.goddardco.co.uk, www.rightmove.co.uk