The developers behind a major housing project in Birkenhead “are working through implications” after one of its housing providers entered administration last week.
Peel L&P are leading on the Wirral Waters regeneration project which is looking to deliver a range of new homes, office and commercial space within Birkenhead’s docklands. A joint venture between Peel L&P and House By Urban Splash, a property developer, has so far delivered 30 state-of-the-art modular homes at East Float within the Northbank neighbourhood.
However there is uncertainty over the delivery of the remaining phases of the housing development after House By Urban Splash went into administration on May 11. Overall, 351 modular homes had been planned for this aspect of the Northbank neighbourhood in Wirral Waters.
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A planning application for a further 55 modular homes was submitted on the same day the administration was announced, stating that planning applications for the “final two phases” of the development are expected to be submitted next year. Peel L&P has confirmed the wider Wirral Waters project will not be impacted by the administration.
US House Group, a joint venture between Urban Splash and Sekisui House UK, both property developers based in Manchester, announced it had gone into administration last Thursday. The news means 160 employees will be made redundant, many of them working on the company's development sites.
One of the key sites was the East Float development at Wirral Waters, which has already delivered the first phase of homes to the area. Peel L&P has not said the housing project is now in doubt, but is working through the “implications” of the news with greater clarity expected in the coming weeks.
An Urban Splash statement last week said administrators, Teneo, “will oversee completion and sale strategies for the company’s developments." Responding to the news of House By Urban Splash going into administration, Richard Mawdsley, Director of Development for Peel L&P’s Wirral Waters, said the developer’s “immediate thoughts are for House by Urban Splash’s factory staff who now face redundancy.”
He added: “For our part, we are currently working through the implications of the news for the East Float development. The first 30 of the modular homes have been delivered to site and practical completion is due imminently.
“This news does not impact on any other plans for Wirral Waters, where the pace of delivery remains high with a range of projects on site now, including two other residential projects within the Northbank neighbourhood.”
