Liverpool is having mixed results in its attempts to limit the damage caused by the funding drought that is hurting the wider property market.

Vermont Developments, a respected locally-based developer set up four years ago, went into administration when a London-based venture capitalist, Downing Corporate Finance, called in the £4m ($7m) debt on a residential project in Salford, Greater Manchester. The Quarter, Vermont and joint-venture financier Ethel Austin Properties’ big hotel, office and apartment project in Liverpool, appears to be safely held in a special-purpose vehicle although construction work has slowed.