Two social housing schemes delayed for more than a year are now being finished by the association that owns them.
Housing association L&Q, which has an in-house contractor arm, will complete two Cheshire schemes itself after the construction sites closed for more than a year.
The schemes, Earlsbrook and Weaver Meadows, were both being worked on by Lane End Developments Construction, a homebuilder specialising in affordable housing. But the firm went into administration last April after takeover talks failed, leaving both schemes in limbo.
L&Q has now taken over both projects following an extensive design and technical review onsite, according to an announcement by the housing association released this week.
Earlsbrook is a 166-home development site in Delamere, on the site of a former Marley Tile factory. Before it went into administration, Lane End had completed 114 of the homes, which are now all occupied.
As well as completing the remaining homes, L&Q will deliver further earthworks, public open space, drainage and roads works at the site.
So far, it has removed 50,000 cubic metres of earth from the site for a new children’s play area.
L&Q will deliver 117 new homes at Weaver Meadows in Winsford, which will take the total to 215. Before it went under, Lane End had competed 98 homes at the site.
Work will resume this autumn, and will include site clearance and landscaping, before the new homes are built and new sewers and roads are delivered.
L&Q development and project management director Adam Simpson said: “Our sector has been faced with many challenges lately, including recent supply chain failures, but we are very pleased to be able to deliver on our commitment to residents and the local communities.”
In April, Countryside Partnerships took on another of Lane End’s former projects, which was also in Cheshire.
Warrington-based Lane End was founded in 2016 and posted a pre-tax profit of £244,900 on turnover of £81.1m in the year to 31 May 2022, its last published set of accounts.
Some 112 staff were made redundant in April 2023 when it became clear the firm had insufficient working capital to carry on trading in administration.
The number of administrations within the construction industry has risen in recent years after Covid, inflation and material shortages plunged the sector into difficulty.
Despite that, the rate of administrations slowed in July – though the sector still accounted for 16.9 per cent of all insolvencies in the country.
