Quintain said residential sales were sluggish during 2009 but since the start of this year 50 apartments have been bought at prices up to £495 a square foot.

The company was posting its annual results to the end of March 2010 which reflected growing optimism in the property market.

Plans for Phase One of the 87 acre Wembley site were confirmed which will see John Sisk start work on an £89m Hilton Hotel and student accommodation block in September.

Construction will also start next year on a new Cineworld complex which will seat 1800 people.

There are currently 520 completed homes on the site and Quintain will start looking for tenants for a major retail centre including a designer outlet village this autumn.

Construction on the shopping centre is scheduled to start in 2011 and open in 2013.

Quintain has also been granted planning permission for Phase Two of Wembley which could lead to the development of another 300,000 sq ft of new retail floor space by 2016 and an additional 1.1 million sq ft by 2026.

Quintain is also developing the Greenwich Peninsula in partnership with Lend Lease where two office buildings totaling 308,000 sq ft have been completed on the site .

Architect Fletcher Priest is working on the design of a third 300,000 sq ft office building and Quintain is seeking a pre-let before construction can start.

Results for the year show pre-tax losses reduced to £10m from £129m last time as turnover fell to £57m from £66m.

William Rucker, Chairman of Quintain, said: “Our three year business plan targets the increase of funds under management to £2bn and the delivery of critical mass at Wembley City.

“As the first step towards achievement of these 2013 targets, we have put in place a clear operational programme for the next twelve months that will bring further capital into the business, drive significant progress on our major schemes and increase the recurring income generated across the group.

“Whilst the continued uncertainty in the markets will no doubt present challenges, the business is now in a significantly stronger shape and we anticipate a year of real progress.”