Homes England charge over former Stanway Works site caught in KCH (Ashford) administration

Homes England holds a registered charge over freehold land at the former Stanway Works, Victoria Road, Ashford (TN23 7HQ), and that security interest is now caught in the administration of KCH (Ashford) Limited, the residential development vehicle that owned the site.

Oliver Haunch of Grant Thornton UK Advisory & Tax LLP was appointed administrator on 6 May 2026, with the authorisation signed the following day. The Business and Property Court, Insolvency and Companies List, sealed the appointment under case number 003439 of 2026. Administration is a formal insolvency process in which a licensed insolvency practitioner takes control of a company to rescue it, sell it as a going concern, or realise its assets for creditors.

The Gazette notice names Haunch, who holds IP number 20950, as the sole administrator. A joint administrator, Shane R Smith (IP number 31110), also of Grant Thornton UK Advisory & Tax LLP at 8 Finsbury Circus, London, EC2M 7EA, is identified in the published notice text. Enquiries are being directed to the firm's CMU Support team at cmusupport@uk.gt.com or on 0161 953 6906.

The company and the site

KCH (Ashford) Limited was incorporated on 22 October 2020 and carries SIC code 41100, the development of building projects. Its registered address has moved to care of Grant Thornton's Manchester office at 11th Floor, Landmark St Peter's Square, 1 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 4PB, as is standard once administrators take control.

The brownfield land at Victoria Road, Ashford, is registered at the Land Registry under title number TT45830. Homes England, the government's housing delivery agency trading under that name from the Homes and Communities Agency, registered its charge over the freehold parcel on 29 March 2021, delivered to Companies House on 1 April 2021.

Secured lenders

Two further outstanding charges are held by OakNorth Bank PLC as Security Trustee. Both were created and delivered on 28 April 2023. A secured creditor is one whose debt is backed by a charge over company assets, placing them ahead of unsecured creditors when assets are distributed. The OakNorth charges are classified as registered charges; no further description of the assets covered is recorded at Companies House.

The company therefore has three outstanding security interests in total: the Homes England charge over the Victoria Road land and the two OakNorth Bank positions registered two years later.

The directors

The directors at the time of administration were Radu Dinului-Mereantu, appointed on 16 November 2020, and Nicholas David Harvey-Jones, appointed on 22 October 2020, the date of incorporation. Both are resident in England.

For creditors and customers

Once administrators are appointed, the moratorium under Schedule B1, paragraph 43 of the Insolvency Act 1986 takes effect. That moratorium is the legal pause on most creditor enforcement action: creditors generally cannot start or continue court proceedings against the company without the court's permission.

Administrators issue statutory communications to known creditors in due course. Correspondence with the practice is conducted through Grant Thornton UK Advisory & Tax LLP at the Finsbury Circus address. Creditors owed money will in time be invited to submit a proof of debt, the formal claim form used to evidence the amount owed to the administrators.

Unsecured creditors, those whose debts are not backed by a charge over assets, rank behind secured and preferential creditors in any distribution. Trade suppliers or counterparties with outstanding claims against KCH (Ashford) Limited would typically fall into that unsecured category.

Employee claims for unpaid wages, notice pay and redundancy are treated as preferential or unsecured depending on their nature. The Redundancy Payments Service, a government body, handles statutory redundancy payments where a company cannot meet them, stepping in so that eligible employees are not left without recourse when an employer becomes insolvent.