Council Housing Partners Go Bust (Again)
HUGH SULLIVAN
Another private property company working with Hastings Borough Council to identify, acquire and manage housing stock for letting to homeless households has gone into liquidation – the third in 18 months.
The council does not admit that it has suffered any financial loss as a result, nor that its housing acquisition programme will be halted or slowed. Instead, its spokesperson says that the consultancy functions of the liquidated company will be “managed in-house through the programme budget”.
Between August 2023 and January 2025 two associated companies Phi Capital Investments Limited and Simply Phi provided acquisition and management services before being wound up for non-payment of tax. Their directors then formed fresh companies Phi Property Acquisitions Limited (PPAL) and Phi Technology Solutions Limited, which took over the respective businesses of the insolvent companies. They claimed that the prior insolvencies arose “as a result of an HMRC tax credit misfiling and not the result of [their] underlying operational business”.
But in July this year, PPAL followed its predecessors into liquidation with total debts according to its Statement of Affairs of over £4.5m.
After the collapse of the initial Phi companies in January 2025, it was stated the council would not be affected as it had been paying them only at each acquisition or associated works. This time, although the council is not named as a creditor of PPAL in the Statement of Affairs, it seems that there may be deeper implications.
HIP has been told that the council has appointed “specialist insolvency advisers to assist in the winding-up process” and that it is “engaging with the liquidator and with affected contractors and consultants who may be impacted”.
An average of approximately 50 properties per year have been purchased under the acquisition programme over the three-year period from August 2023. A council spokesperson insisted last month that it “remains committed to the delivery [of this programme] and to completing works already underway”. However, asked whether the council were taking on more staff to fulfil the functions which PPAL would no longer carry out, or whether the rate of acquisition was now intended to slow down, the spokesperson declined to comment.
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