Inland Homes to appoint administrators

Housebuilder Inland Homes has issued a notice of intent to appoint administrators. It named David Hudson and Phil Armstrong of FRP Advisory Trading as administrators and said its subsidiaries which have granted floating charges have filed notices of intention to appoint administrators. The company also said it “continues to be in active discussions” with HSBC over breached banking covenants relating to a £13.6m loan. The housebuilder said it anticipates that it is likely to be in breach of covenants with other lenders and, as such, it has already initiated discussions with them. It said it had reviewed options to continue its policy of seeking to complete existing construction projects and is undertaking a “comprehensive programme of disposals of its land assets, most of which are held as inventory”. Earlier this month, the housebuilder appointed Colliers to sell its £200m GDV Hillingdon scheme for offers over £25m. The site has planning permission for 514 homes and 13,455 sq ft of commercial space. Inland also put its modular subsidiary Hugg Homes on the market for more than £10m in a bid to ease its balance sheet woes. In a statement, Inland said: “Taking into account the current circumstances and including the group structure and the current cash resources available to it, Inland has concluded that the appointment of administrators in accordance with the provisions of the Insolvency Act is in the best interests of all stakeholders.” The decision comes after Inland announced the outcome of a review by FRP into related party relationships and transactions and other matters on 24 July. FRP was appointed to undertake the independent review at the same time that Inland appointed former MJ Gleeson boss Jolyon Harrison as its new chief executive. Previous chief executive Donagh O’Sullivan had suddenly left the company, 42 days after he was appointed to the position in January 2023. In July, the housebuilder proposed the acquisition of NorthCountry Homes as part of a strategy to develop a low-cost homes business model, based in Wakefield, to take advantage of low Northern land values. It also planned to develop its brownfield and strategic land business in the South, while completing its existing construction commitments. The proposal was subject to a number of conditions, including the restoration to trading on AIM of Inland’s shares. The housebuilder’s shares, which were suspended in April, will be cancelled from admission to trading on AIM in October. To send feedback, e-mail akanksha.soni@eg.co.uk or tweet @AkankshaEG or @EGPropertyNews