Eastbourne Council’s Conservative opposition are calling for urgent answers after it emerged that Boutique Modern, the modular build company appointed by Eastbourne Borough Council to build 100 homes at the long-delayed Bedfordwell site, has now formally entered administration.
The Lib Dem-run council had described the Bedfordwell scheme as a flagship housing project. The collapse of its contractor now leaves the council without a builder, the site still empty and taxpayers potentially exposed to financial loss.
Concerns are growing over why such a large contract, worth around £35 million, was awarded to a company that was not only small but already reporting a deficit in its accounts at the time of the contract award.
Opposition Leader Councillor Robert Smart said: “It is astonishing that the council placed its trust and local taxpayers’ money in a company with such weak finances. Any basic credit check would have shown that Boutique Modern’s balance sheet was in deficit, and yet the Lib Dems pressed ahead with the deal.”
He added: "The council had authorised borrowing of £35 million to fund the project, despite being the only council in England to have required emergency financial support from the government in five of the past six years"
There are also questions about the council’s unwillingness to engage with other developers who had shown interest in bringing forward genuinely affordable housing on the site after years of delay, including one developer who formally offered to buy the site off the Council in 2022.
Councillor Smart said: “The Scrutiny Committee should now urgently review how this happened, what due diligence was carried out and how much money has been lost. It must also consider all options for providing desperately needed housing in Eastbourne. Residents deserve clear answers.”
