Opposition councillors are set to demand answers from Labour-run Ealing Council over the bill for dealing with the fallout from more than 100 homes left uncompleted after contractor Henry Construction collapsed in June 2023.
The cost to local taxpayers could run into millions, with the council now considering whether the unfinished homes should be demolished and rebuilt rather than restarted from where construction stopped.
The opposition challenge is expected at the council’s last full council meeting of the year, scheduled for today (16 December 2025) at 7pm. Questions will be put directly to Councillor Shital Manro, the cabinet member for good growth and new homes.
Ealing Liberal Democrats Councillor Jon Ball will ask: “What is the estimated total cost to the council of the construction and then demolition of the Maitland Yard and Dean Gardens residential scheme in West Ealing?” While Ealing Conservatives Councillor Seema Kumar will press the council: “How much taxpayer money has been lost in the uncompleted buildings begun by Henry Construction Projects Ltd at Dean Gardens, Wood End, Shackleton Road, Evesham Close, and Norwood Road?”
The questions revive scrutiny of a housing programme the council said would provide a significant number of new homes through its wholly owned company, Broadway Living. In February 2022, Ealing Council announced it had awarded Hounslow-based Henry Construction a £40m contract to build 145 new homes on six sites, with delivery “targeted for mid-2023”.
But Henry Construction Projects Limited went into administration in June 2023, leaving work halted and sites stalled. In June 2023, Ealing Council told EALING.NEWS: “Some of the financial impact to the council will be offset by insurances we have in place and there will regrettably be a delay to the completion of the new homes.”
In the same statement, the council said it understood “unexpected labour and material cost increases” had affected the contractor’s ability to deliver the schemes. It said it had terminated the contracts, secured the sites and engaged legal advisers to help appoint a replacement contractor.
The council said Henry had been building on a series of sites across the borough, including:
Dean Gardens and Maitland Yard, West Ealing: 53 new homes, a new public car park and a commercial unit
Chesterton Close and Evesham Close, Greenford: 25 homes
Norwood Road, Southall: six houses
Shackleton Road, Southall: 10 homes
Wood End, Northolt: 11 homes and a community facility
Two and a half years later, attention has focused again on Dean Gardens in West Ealing, also referred to as Maitland Yard, where the 53-home development has been left partly built. The Times newspaper has reported that the scheme was funded by a £100m taxpayer-funded grant from the Greater London Authority.
The council’s cabinet has been asked to consider authorising a demolition contract for the partially built apartments there, more than two years after construction stalled. A council decision record also refers to a “Dean Gardens: Demolition of existing buildings” decision due in December. The decision report says investigations raised concerns about the quality of the concrete frames, including incomplete and substandard test results and insufficient concrete cover to reinforcement, and recommends demolishing the frames down to ground beam level rather than attempting remediation.
The report adds that the demolition contract is expected to be below the national procurement threshold for works contracts of about £5.1m, meaning the full Procurement Act 2023 procedures do not apply, although the council must still follow its own contract rules.
Ealing Council told The Times that its “in-depth assessments” had led it to consider that demolishing the existing partly built structures would “provide a more cost-effective and better long-term solution than attempting to restart building where Henry Construction left off”.
Speaking to EALING.NEWS, Ealing Liberal Democrats planning and housing spokesperson said the decision to demolish the half-built homes amounted to “a catalogue of failure”.
He said: “Shockingly, Labour-controlled Ealing Council are now wasting local council taxpayers’ money on paying to demolish the half-built homes that were left as a result of the collapse of their development partner Henry Construction.”
“If the council had properly scrutinised Henry’s finances and history they wouldn’t have awarded the build contract to them. If the council had properly managed the contract it would not have allowed work of such poor standard to be done. And if the council had reacted quickly to the liquidation, there would have been more chance of preserving the project in a state from which it could be continued.”
He pointed to a contractor collapse in Lib Dem-controlled Sutton, saying the council there appointed a replacement contractor four months after work stopped and the homes were completed.
Councillor Ball said he had tabled his question for Tuesday’s meeting “holding the Labour portfolio holder to account by demanding to know the estimated total cost to the council of the construction and then demolition of this scheme”.
Ealing Council has not published an amount for the total cost of the stalled schemes. It had previously said it remains committed to delivering new and affordable homes across the borough, while opposition councillors are pressing for a clearer public accounting of the losses and the likely costs of any demolition and rebuild.
EALING.NEWS has been asked Ealing Council for a comment.
Update: 23 December 2025
Ealing Council responded with the following in response to the following questions:
What is the situation with Wood End, Shackleton Road, Evesham Close, and Norwood Road? Will these also be demolished as well?
The future of all these sites is currently subject to review, as we are working through our options to determine the best long-term solution for any future reconstruction.
Is the cost to demolish Maitland Yard and Dean Gardens along with the other uncompleted homes set to be in the millions?
We are currently engaged in confidential discussions with the bondsman which acts as guarantor for the insurance bond we have in place for this development. Until those conversations are complete, we cannot comment publicly.
Previously we were told in June 2023 following Henry going bust that “Some of the financial impact to the council will be offset by insurances we have in place and there will regrettably be a delay to the completion of the new homes”. Can we have an update on that and is it still the case for the insurances in place?
The collapse of Henry Construction was a private sector failure which will have significant financial implications for the public sector, both here and at other councils. The full financial cost will only be fully clear at the point at which the council either appoints a contractor to rebuild the homes or agrees a price to sell the land.
