Ealing Council Faces Backlash Over Insolvent Housing Firms: Ealing 2026

Key Points

• Cabinet Approval to Close Companies: On Wednesday, 10 June 2026, Ealing Council’s Labour cabinet voted to wind up its arms-length housing delivery companies, Broadway Living (BL) and Broadway Living Registered Provider (BLRP).
• Massive Debt and Insolvency: Since 2014, the council has loaned £42.3 million to Broadway Living to construct social housing. Today, the companies’ assets are insufficient to cover these debts, rendering them legally insolvent.
• Significant Losses and Taxpayer Liability: The combined losses from winding up the two entities are expected to reach at least £6.5 million, with warnings that the final figure could be much higher. Ealing Council will absorb this debt, paying it down over a 50-year period.
• Threat of Council Rent Increases: The council will take over the companies, pay off their external debts, and bring the properties into direct council ownership. This acquisition is projected to put severe pressure on the local Housing Revenue Account (HRA), which may result in an increase in council rents for residents.
• Construction Failures and Demolition Costs: Several housing sites in the Broadway Living portfolio were initially managed by Henry Construction, which went into administration in 2023. Due to prolonged neglect and structural issues, some partially completed buildings must now be demolished at an enormous cost to the taxpayer.
• Political Fallout and Claims of Delay: Ealing Conservatives leader Councillor Julian Gallant has fiercely criticised the Labour-run administration for handling the situation with “indecision.” He contends that the council waited too long to intervene, noting that Broadway Living had been in financial distress since 2022 or earlier, yet action was conspicuously delayed until after the May 2026 local council elections.
• Uncertainty Over GLA Grants: Questions remain regarding the millions of pounds in grants provided to Broadway Living by the Greater London Authority (GLA), with council officials confirming that negotiations are still ongoing to determine if the funds must be repaid.

Ealing (Extra London News) June 12, 2026 – Ealing Council’s Labour-run administration is facing intense political backlash following its decision to wind up its wholly owned, arms-length housing development companies, Broadway Living (BL) and Broadway Living Registered Provider (BLRP), amid a financial collapse that leaves taxpayers exposed to millions of pounds in debt. In a cabinet meeting held on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, local authority leadership voted to absorb the insolvent entities, bringing their property portfolios back under direct council control. However, opposition leaders argue the intervention has come years too late, pointing out that a mountain of outstanding council loans, coupled with incomplete and structurally compromised construction sites, will severely strain municipal finances for the next half-century and potentially trigger a sharp rise in council rents for ordinary residents.

The local authority has been funding Broadway Living since 2014, pumping a staggering £42.3 million in public loans into the companies to accelerate the delivery of social and affordable housing across the borough. Despite this massive injection of capital, the companies’ current assets are completely insufficient to cover their liabilities. This balance sheet deficiency means that Broadway Living is now officially insolvent. Under the approved wind-up plans, Ealing Council will step in as the parent guarantor to clear the outstanding commercial debts and take ownership of the housing stock. The immediate financial hit from the closure is estimated at £6.5 million, though opposition figures warn this figure could escalate drastically as the true extent of the structural failures on unfinished building sites becomes clear.

Why Did Ealing Council Close Broadway Living?

The decision to close Broadway Living and its sister registered provider stems from a structural failure to manage mounting development costs and volatile market conditions. Founded over a decade ago, the firms were intended to act as agile, arm’s-length vehicles capable of bypassing traditional local government bureaucracy to build much-needed social housing. However, the economic shocks following the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with the collapse of primary tier-one contractors, left the companies fundamentally unable to service their debts.

According to official council reports presented during the cabinet session, the financial model underpinning the companies became unsustainable as inflation spiked. With debts far outweighing the market value of the land and partially built structures they held, the entities could no longer operate as going concerns. By voting to wind up the organisations, the cabinet sought to halt further commercial losses, choosing instead to bring the properties into the council’s internal asset register, effectively converting commercial corporate debt into public sector liabilities.

What Are The Financial Requisitions For Ealing Taxpayers?

The collapse of the housing firms leaves a deep, multi-million-pound crater in Ealing Council’s long-term financial strategy. The immediate estimated loss of £6.5 million will not be paid off quickly; instead, the local authority plans to restructure and absorb the debt into its wider accounts, amortising and paying down the losses over a 50-year horizon. This means the financial consequences of the companies’ mismanagement will actively impact local government budgets for generations.

Furthermore, absorbing these properties and their associated debts will place unprecedented strain on Ealing’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA)—the ring-fenced fund used strictly for the management and maintenance of council-owned housing. Financial analysts warn that loading the HRA with millions of pounds of unbacked debt reduces the capital available for routine repairs, estate regeneration, and standard public services. To balance the books, the council will be forced to look at alternative revenue streams, which experts note could well result in a direct increase in council rents for thousands of local tenants across the borough.

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How Did The Collapse Of Henry Construction Affect The Projects?

A significant portion of Broadway Living’s financial ruin is tied directly to its reliance on external builders who failed to deliver. Several prominent housing sites within the Broadway Living development portfolio were originally contracted to Henry Construction. The major building firm suffered a catastrophic financial collapse and formally went into administration in 2023, instantly freezing activity across multiple local housing sites.

Will Taxpayers Have To Pay For Demolition?

The fallout from Henry Construction’s bankruptcy extends far beyond simple delays. For nearly three years, several partially completed housing blocks have sat abandoned, exposed to weather damage and lacking proper structural oversight. Recent building surveys conducted on behalf of the local authority have revealed devastating news: portions of these half-built developments are structurally compromised.

As a direct result of these survey findings, some of the partially completed construction must now be completely demolished. The process of tearing down substantial concrete and steel frameworks, clearing the sites, and restarting the design process from scratch will be carried out at an enormous, unbudgeted cost to the local taxpayer, further driving up the final bill of the wind-up operation.

What Did Councillor Julian Gallant Say About The Labour Administration?

The political response to the cabinet’s decision has been swift and unforgiving. Writing in a highly critical public briefing, Ealing Conservatives leader Councillor Julian Gallant heavily censured the Labour-run council’s handling of the crisis, pointing to structural delays in executive decision-making. As reported by Councillor Julian Gallant of the Ealing Conservatives, the Labour administration waited far too long to close its failing housing companies after cabinet members had internal clarity on the millions of pounds in expected losses.

Councillor Gallant, who personally attended the high-stakes cabinet meeting to demand accountability, expressed deep frustration over what he characterised as a systemic failure to protect public funds. He stated that while the Labour cabinet finally voted to accept the recommendation to close Broadway Living and Broadway Living Registered Provider on Wednesday, 10 June 2026, the local Conservative opposition maintains this drastic action should have been taken years earlier to mitigate the financial damage now hitting the borough.

Why Was Action Delayed Until After The 2026 Elections?

One of the most contentious aspects of the Broadway Living scandal is the timeline of its downfall. Internal financial indicators suggest that the council-owned housing developers had been experiencing severe cash flow issues and structural deficits since 2022 or even earlier. This has led opposition politicians to accuse the ruling party of intentionally delaying the politically embarrassing closure to safeguard their prospects in the recent local government elections.

Did The Council Provide A Clear Explanation For The Delay?

During the public gallery questioning session of the cabinet meeting, Councillor Julian Gallant explicitly asked leadership why no formal, decisive action had been taken to wind up the companies until after the May 2026 council elections had concluded, given the lengthy history of financial distress.

According to attendees, there was no direct answer provided by the frontbench to address the alleged election timeline manipulation. Instead, executive members chose to redirect the conversation, merely confirming the historical data that the companies had first run into severe operational and market difficulties shortly after the initial Covid-19 crisis. Councillor Gallant later observed that Ealing residents can realistically expect more obfuscation and indecision by the Labour administration in the challenging months ahead.

Will The Greater London Authority Grant Need To Be Repaid?

Another unresolved financial risk hanging over Ealing Council is the status of external capital grants provided by City Hall. Over the years, Broadway Living successfully secured substantial state funding from the Greater London Authority (GLA), headed by the Mayor of London, which was earmarked specifically for accelerating affordable housing starts. Under standard GLA grant conditions, funds are tightly bound to strict delivery milestones and specific affordable housing tenures.

When directly challenged on this vulnerabilities during the committee session, the executive team admitted that the capital position remains fluid. As recorded by Councillor Julian Gallant during the live cabinet proceedings, portfolio holder Councillor Louise Brett responded to direct questioning regarding how much grant had been received by Broadway Living from the Greater London Authority and whether this grant would now need to be repaid to the regional government by stating that “conversations with the GLA are ongoing.” If the GLA insists on clawing back the grant funding due to non-delivery or breach of contract, Ealing’s final taxpayer liability could rise significantly above the projected £6.5 million floor.