More than 130 homes left half-finished by collapsed modular housebuilder Ilke Homes are to be part-demolished before construction can restart.
Work at the Meadow Grange development in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, stopped last June after the housebuilder collapsed into administration. More than a year later, a replacement contractor has not yet been appointed.
The Guinness Partnership, the housing association due to let the homes, has now revealed the partially completed structures will need to be taken back to floor slab level before a replacement contractor is appointed.
Demolition will start soon and is expected to take four to five weeks to complete, a spokesperson said.
The modular housebuilder planned a “high-quality residential scheme” of 221 homes on undeveloped greenfield land near Fossetts Way, a quarter of which would generate their own energy. Ilke started on site in November 2022, aiming to complete work by autumn 2024.
Ilke Homes was established in 2017 to speed up housing production, but shut up shop at its Knaresborough factory last June, citing “volatile macroeconomic conditions and issues with the planning system”.
According to its last published accounts, the offsite specialist turned over £12.7m in the financial year ending 31 March 2021 and made a pre-tax loss of £33.9m.
The firm had backing from several private equity firms and government agency Homes England, which is set to lose £64.5m on its investment.
Some of its other sites have restarted, including the Birch Fields affordable housing scheme in Nottingham.
