Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the Lord Chancellor, has done a deal with senior judges over where the proposed new supreme court should sit.
Lord Falconer has pledged to provide a "prestigious" and "first-class" building after concerns that the law lords would be shoe-horned into an unsatisfactory building.
The Times has learnt that Somerset House, the Middlesex Guildhall and the old Prudential Building in Holborn have emerged as the front-runners for the venue after a list of "headline" requirements agreed between Lord Falconer and the most senior law lord, Lord Bingham of Cornhill.