Hackney Council has revived a major housing project in east London after its contractor went bust in the summer, approving a £30m contract with a new firm to complete the stalled development.
The regeneration scheme will see 371 “high quality” homes built in towers up to 25 storeys high in Shoreditch Park, Hoxton. The development was paused in June when the council’s main contractor Ardmore Construction Group went into administration due to historic claims about cladding safety.
Final stage of Britannia Project
Constructing the homes was the third and final stage of the huge Britannia Project. A leisure centre has already been redeveloped and a permanent home has been built for The City of London Academy Shoreditch Park.
The flats were supposed to be finished by the end of 2026. They include 51 social rent homes and 30 shared ownership properties. The social rent homes will be used to rehouse some residents from Colville Estate, whose deteriorating homes are being demolished as part of a separate regeneration programme.
£30m contract approved
On Monday, November 2, the council approved a £30m contract for a new firm, Wates Construction, to complete the “urgent” next stage of finalising the building. The work includes making the building “watertight” and for purchasing critical construction materials, plus site management.
Hackney Council is set to shell out £30m to revive the last stage of a major regeneration project which stalled in the summer and is now likely to go over its £197m budget.
Financial impact and revised budget
Cllr Alastair Binnie-Lubbock, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Inclusive Neighbourhoods, said the council would continue reviewing and re-procuring material for internal works and landscaping, which will be covered by a second contract award that will subsume the deal approved this week. In a report, he stated: “As a council, our priority is to act swiftly and confidently to minimise the financial impact of this on the council, and to give clarity to project stakeholders on the plan to complete the project”.
But Hackney’s outgoing Executive Director of Housing, Rickardo Hyatt, warned that the council had been losing money since Ardmore deserted the project. Restarting the project as quickly as possible, he said, was vital for the council to limit the financial impact by “mitigating the risk of further losses”.
When it was first approved in 2018, the entire Britannia Masterplan was estimated at £384m. Phase 2b was initially estimated to cost £153.9m when it was signed off in 2023, but the council now says the costs are “likely to exceed” the revised budget of £196.8m. The council has declined to reveal the value of the revised budget, which the cabinet signed off in July after construction was put on ice.
Ardmore Construction Group, a parent company enveloping several firms, collapsed into administration in June 2026 after the High Court imposed a building liability order. The ruling made the companies liable for £14.9m in historic claims around cladding safety.
