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13
Nov
Administrator reveals payments to creditors from collapsed Knaresborough housebuilder Ilke Homes
Homes England is set to receive just £5 million from the collapse of a housebuilder near Knaresborough.
Ilke Homes, which was based alongside the A1(M) at Flaxby, ceased trading and entered administration in June 2023, causing the loss of 1,100 jobs and leaving a list of 300 creditors.
The company had debts of £320 million and owed money to staff, traders and HMRC.
Homes England, the government’s housing agency, was among those owed the most with an estimated debt of £68.7 million across three of the Ilke companies.
A progress report from administrators AlixPartners, published this week, shows that the agency is expected to receive just £128,423 of the sum it is owed from one of the companies.
However, the administrators pointed out that Homes England may still receive money from other Ilke firms in administration, such as Ilke Homes Land Limited (IHL) and Ilke Homes Holdings Ltd (IHHL)
Latest administration reports from July show that the agency, which was a secured creditor, is estimated to receive £4.8 million from IHL and £100,000 from IHHL.
Inside the Ilke Homes factory at Flaxby, Knaresborough.
The debt owed to Homes England is part of a cross guarantee between the firms.
It means the government agency will recoup just 7.3% of the overall sum it was owed.
Much of the figure expected to be paid by Ilke Homes Ltd is made up solely of the sales of factory machinery from the company, which was auctioned in August last year.
Catherine Williamson, liquidator at AlixPartners, said in her report:
The anticipated return to Homes England from the company comprises solely of realisations from this plant and machinery, which is shown net of associated fees and expenses.
As the Homes England security was granted across the Ilke group, further distributions may become available to Homes England from those entities, which are not shown here.
Meanwhile, other creditors, both preferential and unsecured, are unlikely to receive any money, according to administrators.
Employee claims were estimated to be £724,614, while HMRC was owed £2.1 million and unsecured creditors debt at the company totalled £249.3 million.
Ms Williamson said in her report:
The likely levels of return are estimated and subject to change. However, the liquidators do not anticipate that any funds will become available to enable any distributions to the preferential or unsecured creditors.
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