House by Urban Splash staff in legal action after administration

It comes after a developer which was granted planning permission for a ‘new beast’ housing scheme in south Warrington entered administration.

House by Urban Splash was the applicant behind plans to build 228 homes at Grappenhall Heys – plans which were approved by Warrington Borough Council’s planning committee in June last year.

The site, which is located to the south of Curzon Drive, east of Lichfield Avenue and west of Stansfield Drive, has seen no activity since permission was granted.

The future of the plans is now uncertain following confirmation that House, a joint venture by Urban Splash, has seen administrators called in.

Staff affected by the collapse of the Manchester-based firm allege that it failed to properly consult them before making them redundant.

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News that the company – which was demerged from regeneration giant Urban Splash in 2019 – had gone into administration broke last week, with reports suggesting that staff had been told to go home during a company-wide Teams call.

Law firm Simpson Millar says it has since been contacted by dozens of former workers who claim they were not consulted over the job losses.

Anita North, an employment law expert at Simpson Millar, said: “News that House had gone into administration will have no doubt caused much concern for its employees.

“We have since spoken to a number of people who have been directly affected as a result of job losses, and we are in the early stages of investigating whether more should have done to consult with staff.

Impressions of how the site at Grappenhall Hays would look (Image: House by Urban Splash)

“If anyone else would also like to speak to us about pursuing a protective award, we would urge them to reach out soon as there is a limited window of opportunity to file a claim.”

Solicitors have now started investigations into whether a protective award can be secured for those affected.

A protective award is a payment of up to 90 days’ pay awarded by an employment tribunal in cases where an employer fails to follow the correct procedure when making 20 or more redundancies. 

A total of 160 former House staff have reportedly been made redundant further to the appointment of the administrator Teneo.

Simpson Millar has also urged those affected to get in touch if they too would like to be involved in the legal action, as ex-employees have just three months less one day from when they were made redundant to make a claim.

Before the council’s planning committee approved the housing scheme at Grappenhall Hays, Andrew Johnston, head of planning at House, said he had no doubt it would be a fantastic community for Warrington and a ‘pioneering low carbon neighbourhood for the future’.

He also said the scheme would enhance the area and be an example of a new way of taking housing forward.

After permission was granted, he added: “We are really excited to be in a position to now start work on delivering this pioneering new neighbourhood at Grappenhall, which we see as a new way of creating suburban homes for the 21st century.

“Over the past 27 years, Urban Splash has become well-known for our work transforming existing buildings and run-down parts of cities and towns across the north west and beyond using great modern design and creating a strong sense of community.

“We really believe there is a different way of building homes and communities for the future, and we look forward to bringing that vision to life here in Grappenhall, enabling people to live well by design.”