WORK has begun on the final phase of a housing development in Temple Quay.

ND10@The Zone is the last block of Barratt Homes' flagship development in the city centre, completing a plan first outlined ten years ago by housebuilder Barratt Homes.

Barratt is building 131 one, two and three-bedroom flats on a site between Anvil Street and New Kingsley Road that could be up to six storeys high.

Home owners will have the use of an on-site gym and communal roof terraces that have views across the centre of Bristol.

The homes will be on sale from July, though prices have not yet been released.

The development is the final touch to a decade-long project that was interrupted by the financial crisis of 2008.

People last moved into homes in The Zone four years ago, and Barratt put the final phase on hold when the tough economic conditions brought the market to a grinding halt.

But builders moved on to land in front of Ratcliffe Court at the end of last year, and now work to finish the project is well under way.

Engineers have already dug in deep foundations, and two cranes tower above workers to transport material around the site.

In 2002 Barratt launched a deal that was then worth £6 million to build 300 homes, the bulk of 500 new homes that were to be created as part of the £200 million Temple Quay redevelopment project.

Homes in The Zone consist of townhouses and flats arranged in blocks around central courtyards, and surrounding streets are laid out to minimise traffic.

The planned total swelled to more than 400, and when properties first came to market in 2008 Barratt was inundated with interest.

When it opened, The Zone was voted best urban development in the country, picking up the Daily Telegraph's 'Your New Home' award for best city centre development.

A number of buyer incentives were available to key workers and people new to property ownership.

Young first-time buyers were given a helping hand to get on the first rung of the housing ladder by joint equity loans from Barratt and the Government's Homes and Communities Agency. Loans of up to 30 per cent meant that buyers only had to find 70 per cent of the purchase price, meaning buyers with smaller deposits and lower incomes could become home owners.

Plans for the final phase of The Zone were altered in 2010 when it dropped the idea of creating studio flats.

The revision was made because Barratt felt there will be a greater demand for more two-bedroom flats in the area.

The number of new developments that are starting in Bristol suggests the market for new homes in the city is about to take off.

The huge Finzels Reach development, the Bristol Eye on Temple Quay and the Harbourside, as well as Portishead marina, are all testament to the continuing demand for modern apartment living in and around Bristol.

Barratt has announced that it expects to launch nine new developments over the next 12 months, subject to planning permission, creating almost 900 new homes in the process and 450 new jobs for local sub-contractors and tradesmen.