Little Stanion owner JME Developments appoints administrators leaving uncertainty for thousands of residents at estate near Corby

The troubled developer of Little Stanion has gone into administration.

A bridging loan firm called Alternative Bridging Corporation applied to the high court on Monday to appoint administrators to step in at JME Developments Ltd – the owners of Little Stanion.

It comes after two building supplies firms – Huws Gray and Ballycommon Services – applied to the high court for a winding up petition over two large unpaid debts.

JME told residents in a scolding statement on April 11 that it would contest that winding-up order and that residents should refrain from ‘unhelpful gossip’. It said it was ‘business as usual’.

The development has about 2,500 residents but many of the roads and open spaces are incomplete and some home owners have experienced difficulties in getting homes completed to an acceptable standard.

Our reporters have tried to contact JME several times during the past few weeks but have received no response. There was no answer when we called again this morning (Thursday, May 2).

Residents who have tried to contact JME today have been sent an auto-reply saying the firm has appointed Rachel Fowler Advisory as an administrator and queries should be directed there.

North Northamptonshire Council told this paper it has been has been ‘monitoring the situation’ since early April.

It now means local people will face serious uncertainty over the completion of the estate.

Cllr David Sims (Lab, Corby Rural) has been sounding the alarm and has attempting to get answers from JME and from the council for months.

He said: “The priority now must be the people of Little Stanion.

"They have invested in properties here and have to live in this community and are now in this precarious situation.

"The taxpayer will also now presumably have to face a bill to get this estate finished and up to an adoptable standard.

"There are many outstanding S106 obligations and many of the roads are not finished.

"Bond money that should have offered the local people some kind of insurance has gone missing and we’ve never had answers over that.

"In the long-term there needs to be a full investigation over what has happened here, right from the beginning. This cannot be swept under the carpet.”

He says he told North Northamptonshire Council about the issues several weeks ago but has received no response from officers to his emails.

This is the second time a developer of the trouble-hit estate has gone bust. The original developer was Silentpride – owned by Bela Partnership which ran into financial difficulties in 2012. Infrastructure works ground to a halt for more than four years.

JME was originally only contracted to build the roads at Little Stanion but when Silentpride couldn’t pay a £1.85m bill it owed them, it handed over the estate lock, stock and barrel to JME.

Since then there have been a series of serious issues with funding. JME have repeatedly tried to wriggle out of building community facilities and paying money owed to the public purse. In 2020 they were let-off a £2m payment by Corby Council and asked to be released from an obligation to build affordable housing.

A multi-use games area and a village hall, both promised to residents who bought houses at the estate, are yet to materialise.

Residents of the estate also have to pay a service charge to a linked company – Little Stanion Farm Management. This firm looks after the estate’s open spaces. Its future is, as yet, unknown.

Both firms are run by Northern Ireland-based James and Anne Moore.

Corby’s large housing developments have all experienced similar issues with developers running into financial crises. Cofton, the developer of Oakley Vale, went under in 2009 and Corby Council had to step in to finish the estate.

Then in 2016, Bela went under leaving the future of Priors Hall up in the air. The Government handed £40m to Urban & Civic to buy the estate from the administrators.

This breaking news story will be updated throughout the day.