Work halts on £90m high-rises after contractor goes bust
2/11/23
Construction work has stopped on a £90m high-rise scheme in east London after the main contractor went into administration.
Construction work has stopped on a £90m high-rise scheme in east London after the main contractor went into administration.
Inland Homes was contracted to build Patchworks in Walthamstow, a residential-led development providing 583 homes across six blocks. The housebuilder went into administration in October.
One of the project's subcontractors told Construction News that their company had lost half-a-million pounds on the project and was unsure when work would start again.
Inland Homes filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators on 27 September. "The next day we went to site and we were told we weren't allowed in," the source said.
Occupying the site of a former Homebase, Patchworks was one of the contractor's highest-value projects.
Work started in June 2021, and two of the six blocks were completed this summer. The whole project was due to be completed in March 2025.
Waltham Forest Council told CN it would "work with administrators and contractors to ensure a delivery plan is agreed".
In a stock-market update after entering administration, Inland said: "Inland has reviewed options to continue its policy of seeking to complete existing construction projects at the same time as undertaking a comprehensive programme of disposals of its land assets, most of which are held as inventory."
Administrators from FRP Advisory were appointed on 4 October. Inland Homes' chair and two non-executive directors resigned in March after revealing a potential breach of regulations for listed companies. Inland's chief executive Stephen Wicks stepped down the previous September after the group warned of an expected £37m pre-tax loss.
Source; Construction News