A private property group based in Northern Ireland is in advanced talks to buy a big part of the carcass of collapsed car parking giant NCP.

Martin Property Group, which has assets of £1B and has hoovered up dozens of regional shopping centre and residential development assets in recent years, has agreed a deal with PwC to take over about 100 sites, Sky News reported. 

Martin Property would take over the sites' leases and run their operations, rather than buying the property.

The company has a private equity arm that owns a small car parking business called MPG Parking, but this would be a major push into a sector which has been hit by changes in driving habits in recent years. 

NCP went into administration earlier this year owing unsecured creditors, including landlords, more than £200M.

Revenue had consistently declined in recent years, with fewer and fewer people driving into city centres in particular.

But NCP was tied into long leases with fixed payments, so it could not reduce the largest part of its cost base when its income dropped. 

Earlier this year, one of NCP’s largest single landlords, infrastructure investor and developer Lysara, terminated its leases with NCP and transitioned the operation of 30 car parks to Q-Park and Apex. 

Martin Property has a portfolio that includes shopping centres like Eastgate Square in Chester and Garden Square in Letchworth, and a residential development portfolio comprising 1,500 units.