Building work paused at Sheffield’s Park Hill flats amid coronavirus pandemic

The £30 million second phase of the brutalist landmark’s revamp began early last year and the first residents were scheduled to move in during summer 2021.

But the developer Urban Splash has announced work at all its building sites, along with its sales offices, show homes and modular factory, has ceased temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The firm said it had made the ‘difficult decision’ because the ‘health and safety of their team and responsibilities to the elderly and the most vulnerable in society is paramount’.

“Urban Splash will pay full-pay to all whether working from home or on Furlough for as long as they can and will review the situation regularly,” added a spokeswoman for the company.

“Urban Splash is still very much open for business and is still, incredibly, taking reservations, and are developing new tools such as a virtual viewing platform which launches next week.”

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The first release of Phase 2 at Park Hill – starting at £135,000 – has nearly sold out, with a further release planned in the coming months.

Park Hill, with its famous ‘streets in the sky’, was hailed as a vision for the future of social housing when it was built in 1961 but by the 1980s had become a magnet for crime and vandalism.

English Heritage’s decision to make it Europe’s largest listed building in 1998 helped save it from demolition, and its refurbishment – phase one of which is complete – began in 2007.