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The 11 house builders being threatened with a building ban by Michael Gove
Yesterday, housing secretary Michael Gove said 11 house builders face a ban on their operations “unless and until” they sign building safety contracts to fix fire safety defects at properties they have built. Peter Apps and Ella Jessel profile the organisations affected
The details in this story were accurate as of 15 March 2023, and the article names developers that had not signed at this stage. Some may since have signed if you are reading this story at a later date.
Rydon Homes
Rydon has always been connected with the Grenfell Tower story, as its contracting business, Rydon Maintenance, served as the lead contractor for the refurbishment of the tower.
During the inquiry, the firm was shown to have been involved in a ‘value engineering’ process that switched the preferred zinc cladding for a cheaper alternative. This turned out to be the highly combustible aluminium composite material (ACM), which has been deemed the “primary cause” of the rapid fire spread.
Its witnesses blamed sub-contractors and building control officers for not realising the cladding was dangerous.
Outside of the Grenfell Tower project, Rydon has a diverse business group that includes Rydon Homes (largely builds private housing developments in the South East – and the company now added to the government’s list), Rydon Maintenance (maintenance contracts of housing, education and healthcare across the UK), and Rydon Construction (a construction contractor).
In April 2021, it sold most of the projects in this latter arm to newly established Real Ltd. It had worked on major social housing projects, including the Packington Estate regeneration in north London. This project was widely praised on completion, but has since been plagued by fire safety defects.
The most recent accounts for Rydon Homes, covering the year to September 2021, showed it made a profit of £3m against a turnover of £19.2m. The prior year it turned over £29.9m for £700,000 in profit.
A spokesperson for the organisation said the government should treat it as an SME builder, which are not subject to the ultimatum, as it builds an average of 16 family homes a year.
Inside Housing has asked how these numbers correspond to its accounts.
Galliard Homes
Operating across London and the Home Counties, Galliard Homes is a large, privately-owned residential property developer.
Galliard is a major player in the industry, particularly in London, describing itself as the city’s “leading property developer”. According to its website, the firm has 6,905 homes under development.
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Grenfell contractor company among 11 facing ‘ban’ on building for failure to sign remediation pledge
Its website boasts that it “constructs luxury apartments, penthouses and townhouses that are outstanding property investments”.
It has also been involved in joint ventures with the housing association sector. It is currently working on a 236-home affordable housing development with Southern Housing Group (now Southern Housing) and has previously worked on a 604-home joint venture with Catalyst (now part of Peabody).
One of Galliard’s schemes, the 11-block apartment complex New Capital Quay in Greenwich, London, was one of the first private blocks to discover it had ACM on its walls. It has now been reclad.
Galliard also built the 58-home Norfolk House development in Deptford, managed by housing association Optivo (now Southern Housing). The scheme has also been caught up in the cladding scandal.
In a statement, Galliard said it was working through procedural matters and intended to sign.
Lendlease
Lendlease is an Australian-headquartered global company involved in several high-profile UK projects, including the £8bn regeneration of Thamesmead in a joint venture with Peabody.
Lendlease Construction Europe posted revenue of £554m last year, with pre-tax profits of £19m. It was behind the controversial redevelopment of the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle.
The firm said it has a pipeline of 30,000 homes in the UK.
The developer has put a £114m pricetag on covering the cost of its cladding bill. It said its liability relates to 56 buildings developed by another firm Crosby Homes, which Lendlease acquired in 2005.
Yesterday, Lendlease was announced as one of the contractors on a £2.5bn Ministry of Justice tender. It now risks losing this work as Mr Gove told parliament public bodies to be prepared to “re-run competitions” where a developer has not signed.
A Lendlease spokesperson said it is considering the contract and its governance procedures would allow it to confirm its position by early April.
London Square
London Square is based in the capital and has a development pipeline of over £2bn. In 2019, it signed a £90m deal with social landlord Clarion to deliver more than 200 affordable homes on two sites in north-west London and Surrey.
Its affordable arm, Square Roots, which is independent with a separate board and governance, is working with the Greater London Authority as an investment partner and has secured £13.6m of grant funding on its first three projects. It is building 1,000 affordable homes across six London boroughs.
In a statement, London Square said its lawyers are working with government lawyers on an agreement and it would be happy to sign a contract once agreed.
Telford Homes
Telford Homes is a London developer with a £1bn pipeline focusing on build-to-rent developments across the capital.
It was a joint venture partner in the revamp of Balfron Tower, a former council block in east London that was turned into private homes.
A spokesperson told Inside Housing it has “completed its review of the pledge contract and expects to sign soon”.
Jones Homes
Jones Homes is a private development company based in Cheshire and is part of the Emerson group, which owns and manages a commercial property portfolio worth in excess of £1bn.
Jones Homes builds approximately 500 homes a year in the UK. Its Imperial Point block in Salford Quays has been caught up in the building safety crisis.
Inland Homes
Inland Homes is a large London developer, with projects including a 1,500-home project in Hounslow that will deliver 62 homes for social rent, 103 for London Affordable Rent and 111 for shared ownership.
The house builder is current undertaking a strategic review after it posted a pre-tax loss of more than £37m in its last trading update.
Last year, Inland Homes signed the building safety pledge, with then-chief executive Stephen Wicks saying the firm “fully supports the principle that leaseholders should not have to pay for remediating blocks”.
Since then, ex-Galliard boss Don O’Sullivan has taken over as chief executive of Inland Homes.
Ballymore
Ballymore is an Irish developer that was founded in 1982 and is still owned by the founding Mulryan family.
It works across Europe and has completed more than 7,000 homes in the UK and Ireland in the past five years.
The firm developed Embassy Gardens in Nine Elms, south London, where two-bedroom apartments sell for more than £1m and a famous ‘sky pool’ stretches between the blocks.
The firm also developed New Providence Wharf, a private housing development in east London, where ACM cladding was discovered after Grenfell. This hit the headlines in 2021, when a serious fire broke out before the cladding had been removed and remediation work is now well underway at the scheme.
Inside Housing understands Ballymore is working on the final details for the contract and will sign soon.
Abbey Developments
Based in Potters Bar in Hertfordshire, Abbey Developments is a residential developer that primarily works across the South East of England.
Its most recent accounts show it turned over £175.2m in 2021-22, making a £50.6m pre-tax profit and paying out a dividend of £203,331.
Dandara
Dandara is a developer based in the Isle of Man and operates across the UK and Jersey.
It recently opened an East of England division and has hopes to make the firm “a national player in the housebuilding market”, it said.
A spokesperson for the firm said it expects to sign the contract imminently.
Avant Homes
Avant Homes operates in Scotland, the North East of England, Yorkshire and the Midlands, with seven regional offices employing more than 700 people.
It said its mission is “to become the house builder of choice in the North by making aspirational homes attainable”.
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