Contractor collapse leaves landlord £36m out of pocket and hundreds of homes delayed

The appointed administrators’ final report, published this month and due to be the last before Henley Construct is liquidated, said the firm’s contracts were “in default and terminated” prior to the collapse.

It said that Henley Construct was engaged in a number of substantial projects building homes for housing associations and that landlords have claims “pursuant to contract terms for loss and damage suffered as a result of the termination”.

ODS submitted a claim for £36m. Its parent company, Optivo, merged with Southern Housing in 2022. 

A Southern Housing spokesperson told Inside Housing: “Optivo Development Services contracted with Henley Construct to deliver several affordable housing schemes. 

“The claim noted by the liquidators relates to the value of uncompleted work suffered by ODS as a result of Henley Construct’s failure to proceed regularly and diligently with these projects. 

“The impact of these failings was a significant delay in the delivery of hundreds of much-needed affordable [homes] in the Croydon and London boroughs.”

The administrators initially estimated that Henley Construct owed £6.7m to trade and expense creditors. However, they expect the claims to be higher “mainly due to the crystallisation of contingent liabilities and contract default terms”.

They do not expect that any money will be available to cover the debt.