A DEVELOPER working with Ealing Council on sites in High Lane, Hanwell, and the Green Man Estate in West Ealing has gone bust.

The plight of REAL Contracting follows delays across eight other sites when Henry Construction suffered a similar fate last June.

Ealing Liberal Democrats criticised the Labour-run council over its selection of construction partners. 

“This latest loss of will impact the delivery of over 1,000 new homes in Hanwell and Ealing at a time of significant need,” said a spokesperson.

“Some of those new homes will be market sale homes, which are being used to offset borrowing costs by the council to fund these building projects. 

“This is during a period of high interest rates when the people of Ealing will be expected to shoulder the burden of repayment of this borrowing for longer.”

A council spokesperson responded: “This has been a challenging period for contractors across the housing sector and the council carefully monitors the position of all its contractors. 

“We became aware of the issues relating to REAL as soon as they emerged in late 2023 and are currently working with partners to ensure that delivery of good-quality homes on these sites can continue as soon as possible.

“The council is currently working on a delivery strategy for this and for the sites in administration, which will be brought forward in the coming months.”