Two major development sites, Sirocco and Castlebawn, agreed for sale

The 16-acre site of the former Sirocco Ropeworks, alongside the river Lagan in east Belfast, has been derelict for a number of years

Two major development sites in Northern Ireland are understood to have been agreed for sale to a London property fund.

They are the Sirocco site in east Belfast and the Castlebawn project in Newtownards, County Down.

The identity of the property fund that is buying the sites has not yet been disclosed and the deal is several weeks from completion.

Both sites are being sold by the US-based Cerberus investment fund.

Castlebawn is a 75-acre site near the centre of Newtownards which was originally earmarked for a major retail scheme.

The Castlebawn site in Newtownards, looking towards Scrabo tower

Cerberus took control of the loan underlying the site as part of its deal with the Irish National Assets Management Agency (Nama).

Cerberus later enforced the loan and repossessed the site from a development consortium.

Sirocco is a 16-acre site beside the river Lagan.

The Carvill Group had planned to develop a hotel, supermarket and 2,400 apartments there before the property crash.

The site was repossessed by Ulster Bank in 2011.

It passed to Cerberus' control in 2015 when it bought a loan portfolio from the bank.