Ealing Council has said it is now considering selling six unfinished housing development sites in Greenford, Southall and West Ealing after two building contractors it appointed to deliver the schemes collapsed in 2023, leaving plans for 230 homes in limbo.
The 230 homes were planned across six developments: Chesterton and Evesham Close and Wood End in Greenford; Norwood Road and Shackleton Road in Southall; Dean Gardens in West Ealing; and Southall Market Car Park.
Five were being built by Henry Construction Projects Ltd, while Southall Market Car Park was being developed by 4 Square Services Ltd.
Of the 230 planned homes, 174 were to be for London Affordable Rent, with a further 34 for shared ownership and 22 for open-market sale.
Henry Construction and 4 Square Services collapsed in June and July 2023, bringing work on the developments to a halt.
Independent technical reviews commissioned by the council since then revealed that existing structures at five of the six sites are not viable to retain.
Southall Market Car Park is the exception. The council says the existing structure there could potentially still be completed, although further investigation is needed.
The council had previously looked at restarting work at Southall Market Car Park through a deal with Mackenzie (Southwest) Homes Ltd, but decided it carried too much financial and delivery risk. It subsequently took back control of the site and recovered compensation through a performance bond, although the report does not reveal how much.
The council’s report sets out two options for the six sites, which remain unfinished more than three years after work stopped: “Council redevelopment and retention”, which would see the council redevelop the sites and retain the completed homes within its housing portfolio; or “disposal to a third-party developer” for future development.
Labour-run Ealing Council is now seeking approval at next Wednesday’s (7 October 2026) cabinet meeting from Councillor Louise Brett, deputy leader and cabinet member for safe and genuinely affordable homes, to put all six sites on the market and invite offers from developers.
It is also seeking approval for a £200,000 budget to market the sites, including professional and legal advice and further surveys.
No decision has yet been made to sell.
Council officers say: “At this stage, officers are of the opinion that the most appropriate next step is to formally test the market for the disposal and development of the sites.”
They say this would establish the level of interest from developers and help the council decide what to do with the sites.
The council has also carried out a “lessons learned” review following the collapse of the contractors.
While the report says the review found that “appropriate governance and due diligence processes were followed”, it also says changes have since been made to strengthen the council’s checks and oversight.
These include “enhanced contractor due diligence”, independent market intelligence, stronger financial monitoring and greater governance oversight.
In a statement commenting on the proposals, Ealing Council leader Councillor Peter Mason said: “These proposals are about making progress towards more affordable homes across our 7 towns, whether that means finding a way forward for stalled sites or moving ahead with new developments such as Mandeville.
“There is still much more work to do, but these are important steps towards giving more local people access to a home they can afford.”
Mandeville is a separate development in Northolt and is not one of the six unfinished sites. It is expected to provide 100 new council homes for social rent.
Councillor Gary Malcolm, leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats, told EALING.NEWS: “Liberal Democrats say that Ealing Labour has not managed to ensure that builders both complete the builds they started as well as build them to a high standard. Ealing Labour are terrible at monitoring itself, partners and third parties like developers.
“When a developer goes bust Ealing Council seems to delay in taking positive action, unlike Liberal Democrat run Sutton Council who took quick action and found replacement developers to ensure builds were completed with little delay.”
Councillor Clare Welsby, leader of the Ealing Green Group, said the report’s title, “Marketing of stalled development sites”, disguised what she described as the waste caused by the unfinished schemes.
Councillor Welsby told EALING.NEWS: “This is a title that disguises the waste in this situation – the prolonged stalling of much needed homes across Ealing, with Deans Gardens for example, one of six sites that the council is saying it doesn’t know what to do with, standing half built exposed to the elements and becoming a home for rats – for at least another year, probably more.
“Another example at the other side of the borough, the failure of construction in Wood End where the library and children’s centre were sacrificed for this development – there are no new flats, and this report implies we cannot even be sure there ever will be here or at the other abandoned sites if there is no ‘market appetite’. The Wood End Library and Children’s Centre is long gone.
“The failure of these developments, we were told was due to difficult market conditions. This report suggests the council go back to the market for a solution? If it was the market that led us here should the council not be rethinking where a solution might lie?”
Independent technical reviews commissioned by Ealing Council found defects, gaps in construction records and unresolved regulatory and warranty issues, including concerns over structural and fire safety requirements.
The cost of completing the developments has also risen since they were approved, with the council pointing to construction inflation, demolition and remedial work, existing contractual commitments and the delays caused by the contractors collapsing.
Its financial modelling found that completing the developments itself would require “significant additional investment” and would be considerably more expensive than other opportunities to acquire affordable housing.
But the report does not say how much has already been spent on the six developments, the original value of the contracts with the failed builders or how much more the council would now need to spend to complete the schemes itself.
Questions over the financial consequences of the unfinished developments were raised last year.
Ealing Council announced in February 2022 that Henry Construction had been appointed to build homes as part of a £40 million programme. Five of the unfinished developments covered by the latest report – Dean Gardens, Chesterton and Evesham Close, Norwood Road, Shackleton Road and Wood End – were being built by Henry when it went into administration in June 2023.
In December 2025, opposition councillors challenged the council over how much taxpayer money had been lost on unfinished developments.
The council told EALING.NEWS at the time: “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.”
Four of the six sites now under consideration were previously held through Broadway Living Registered Provider, one of the council’s housing companies.
In June, Ealing Council agreed to wind up Broadway Living Registered Provider and Broadway Living Ltd and transfer their assets and operations back to the council.
The four unfinished developments at Shackleton Road, Wood End, Chesterton and Evesham, and Norwood Road were among the assets affected, with their future due to be considered separately.
Ealing Council papers at the time showed almost £43 million had been invested in the two companies, with around £36.35 million expected to be recovered through the transfer of housing assets, leaving an estimated £6.55 million shortfall.
The council has also approached the Greater London Authority about further financial support for the unfinished sites, but the latest report says “no additional grant funding is currently available”.
It also warns that significant changes to the approved developments or the number of affordable homes could result in existing grant funding having to be repaid.
Keeping the sites unfinished is costing the council money through security and other holding costs, while further delays risk higher construction costs and deterioration.
The report says council redevelopment would allow it to retain the completed homes and future income but require significant further investment. Selling the sites would transfer the development risk, but the council “would no longer retain the homes or future income generated by them”.
Explaining why officers want to seek offers before deciding what to do, the report says: “The purpose of the proposed marketing exercise is not simply to obtain land value offers, but to identify the most effective route to unlocking the development potential of the sites.”
If the proposal is approved, the council plans to appoint agents and start marketing the six sites by December.
Developers would have until March 2027 to put forward offers, with a further report due to go to cabinet in September 2027 setting out the recommended way forward.
