Sales success for Elan Homes at rescued North West sites

Elan Homes is nearing a sell-out at three out of four North West sites rescued from administrators.

Manchester-based Stewart Milne Homes North West England (Developments) Ltd went into administration in January 2024.

Cheshire-based Elan acquired four sites – two in Lancashire and two in Cheshire – from administrators in June.

Site and sales teams were quickly established to resume construction of the homes and re-open sales centres, with each of the developments rebranded and renamed.

 In Cheshire, Elan is delivering 137 new homes at Oak Grange in Congleton and 59 at Birch Grange in Hooton, while in Lancashire the homebuilder has created 16 homes at Rosewood Gardens in Warton, and eight at Acorn Meadows in Broughton.

Marie Morris, Elan regional sales and marketing director, said: “There was a great amount of work and discussions with regulators before we could complete the acquisition of the sites from the administrators.

"It’s a credit to the team that we were able to do this so promptly. To ensure we could start work on the sites at the earliest opportunity we opted to build the homes in accordance with the existing planning consents.

"This enabled us to support the local economy by providing jobs in the construction industry and helping to address the housing shortage. For the wider communities, it’s ensured that the sites have been bought back into good use.

"If we hadn’t stepped in, they may have been left part-built and this could have had a negative impact on those neighbourhoods.”

 Initially Elan prioritised contacting those people whose home buying journey had been stalled to explore how the business could help them achieve their longed-for move. The homes were then released for general sale.

 At Birch Grange in Hooton, there are now just three of the 59 homes available.

All of the eight homes at Acorn Meadows have been sold, while at nearby Rosewood Gardens just four of the 16 homes are yet to be sold.

The largest of the sites, Oak Grange in Congleton is also selling fast. Since the start of the year more than a dozen reservations have been taken.

 “The success of these four developments demonstrates that there’s a genuine  housing need in those areas. It also indicates that buyers trust Elan to deliver,” Marie added.

 “One of the challenges the team faced was the number of house types – there are 18 designs at Oak Grange in Congleton and nine at Birch Grange in Hooton – but they’ve adapted well and demonstrated great resilience, delivering the quality homes buyers expect from Elan.”