Fury over Labour-run council’s plans to demolish 53 almost-finished houses meant for decrease revenue households after development agency goes bust
Over 50 taxpayer funded homes that are nearly complete are to be demolished after the construction firm contracted to build the new houses went bust.
53 homes in Ealing, West London, intended for lower income families will be knocked down after the building firm awarded a £40 million contract in January 2022 to build them went into administration.
Locals are now furious at the waste of money, blaming ‘chronic mismanagement’ for the collapse of the plans.
The Greater London Authority had funded the development with a £100million grant. 31 of the 53 homes had been allocated for lower income families and were to be made into affordable housing or shared ownership properties.
But the homes never reached the market after Henry Construction, who were awarded a £40million contract by Ealing Council to build the homes alongside other projects, went into administration just 18 months later.
The council told the Architects Journal that it would be demolishing all 53 of the almost finished homes at the Dean Gardens site in West London, saying their destruction would ‘provide a more cost effective and better long-term quality solution for any future reconstruction options’.
Local campaigner Simon Baker told the AJ that the failed construction was due to ‘chronic mismanagement’.
‘There could have been some really cracking, quality developments in keeping with the local environment.
Pictured: the incomplete flats near Dean Gardens, more than half of which were intended as affordable housing or shared ownership
Henry Construction were awarded a £40million contract by the local authority for the project in January 2022, but never completed the job
Ealing, West London, (pictured) is a residential area of the capital, but which lacks in affordable housing
‘But what has happened here is mismanagement of mismanagement, and you end up chipping away at the money that was available to build decent, affordable housing,’ he said.
Other building sites across Ealing totalling 52 homes have also been on hold for two years, leading locals to wonder if they too will be scrapped.
This latest demolition will not help London’s affordable housing crisis. The capital has fewer new homes per capita than anywhere else in the country.
London’s target of building 19,000 affordable homes by 2026 is also expected to be missed.
Statistics released by the Greater London Authority revealed last week that only 1,200 affordable homes had been started in the first six months of this financial year – less than half of the previous year’s 3,000.
Ealing Council told the Daily Mail: ‘Several national and local construction contractors collapsed into administration following the pandemic, including Henry Construction, which was building new homes on our behalf.
‘Its sudden collapse in 2023 meant that work at Dean Gardens stopped overnight, as well as its work on 60 other sites with several different public sector organisations.
‘Since then, we have been working hard to work out the best way forward for the site.
Ealing Council told the Mail that more than 7,000 local families are in need of affordable housing in the borough
Ealing Council announced the flats will be demolished as they believe this will be a more ‘cost effective’ solution than attempting to restart the works
Now an eyesore, locals are frustrated at the apparent waste of taxpayer money
‘Our in-depth assessments have led us to anticipate that demolishing the existing partly built structures will provide a more cost effective and better long-term solution than attempting to restart building where Henry Construction left off.’
They added: ‘Our borough’s housing crisis is stark – more than 7,000 local families are in urgent need of a safe, affordable place to call home.
‘In response, and despite the setback from the collapse of Henry Construction, we are running one of London’s largest council homebuilding programmes, and so far this year Ealing Council has delivered more affordable homes than any other London borough.
‘We have also responded decisively to challenging market conditions by buying homes previously intended for private sale in bulk from developers, to let to council tenants instead.
‘We have recently finalised deals to acquire 290 homes in Acton and Southall.’
Henry Construction were contacted for comment.
