It has been revealed that contractors for the shopping centre, Warner Estate, made a loss of £123.5million in the last financial year.

Work has also slowed down significantly on the Weedon Hill development for the last few months and the start of building at the Berryfields housing estate is expected to be late.

Speaking about the problems with house building, leader of Aylesbury Vale District Council, John Cartwright, said: "Their first crunch came some months ago because they couldn't sell the houses they were building.

"They were building houses with five bedrooms, but their gardens were too small so they have been seeking permission to change the types of houses they were selling.

"If people want a garden and they're paying half a million pounds for the house they want a decent size garden."

On Bryant Homes website there are a variety of three and four bedroom homes available, but one and two bedroom homes appear to be selling quickly.

Recently the Bucks Herald carried a report that Aylesbury's spending power would see the town through the current recession, however as national businesses starts to get nervous, the growth of the local economy looks set to slow in turn.

Philip Warner, Chairman of Warner Estate said: "Trading conditions have been tough over the past year with the credit crunch having a significant impact on property values. However, Warner Estate's property performance has been good.

"Our strategy remains to grow revenues through good, active asset management. We have a long-term sustainable cash flow and a strong balance sheet. Risk management is ensured through a well balanced portfolio with good sector spread. The board is confident that we have the knowledge and expertise to weather the current climate."

Property director, Michael Stevens, added: "We are fully committed to working closely with our partner Aylesbury Vale District Council on the multi-million pound Waterside Shopping retail scheme in the heart of Aylesbury town centre."

Cllr Cartwright said: "(Warner Estate) have given us assurances that this project will go ahead. We're making sure everything is as it should be."

However, Alan Sherwell, leader of the opposition at AVDC, said: there had been concerns for some time that Warner could pull out.

"We have been concerned for some time that the current market conditions may either make Warner re-think or cause them to say to the council that the financial balance of Waterside needs to be different than was originally proposed and we need to put in more financial support; we would be very concerned about that.

"The theatre's costing more, but it's a civic facility so it's not inherently wrong (that we should finance it).

"The amount of support that we give to a private development is a different matter. We shouldn't facilitate them, and if we have to subsidise them significantly it's a problem."

Speaking on the housing issue, Cllr Sherwell added: "People have been complaining that house prices are too high and they can't get into the market, but when they fall you get the reverse said, that they are losing money.

"Unless developers can do something about the price they pay for the land, they have got a bit of a problem. The situation with Berryfields is that the land has already been bought at a price so they are stuck with it.

A spokesperson from Taylor Wimpey, a developer at Weedon Hill, said: "Our focus remains on preserving value through maintaining a steady, but reduced sales rate and controlling land and work in progress spend tightly."

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