A North Yorkshire housebuilder has been placed in liquidation with debts topping £320 million.

Ilke Homes, which was based by the A1 (M) at Flaxby near Knaresborough, ceased trading and entered administration in June, despite claims of a bulging order book for its modular homes.

Some 1,100 jobs were lost and the company, founded in 2018, left a long list of creditors.

A final report from administrators AlixPartners said debts included £68.7 million to Homes England.

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The government housing agency is listed as ilke’s biggest single creditor.

It is likely to receive just £82,000 of this back, the report continued.

Staff are also owed £725,000, the HMRC was owed £2.2 million and unsecured creditors a further £249.3 million.

They are expected to receive nothing.

AlixPartners applied to the courts in September after they said it became clear that they could recover “significantly less value…than originally anticipated.”

This was partly due to problems the housebuilder suffered during the administration process.

The final report says the company remained on site until September to give time to agents Hilco to sell certain assets.

In August, the administrators became aware that trespassers had gained access by cutting through several gates to enter with various vehicles.

On-site security liaised with police to report the break-in, advising of potential criminal damage “and threatening behaviour to on-site security.”

The group refused to leave but Hilco was able to gain access to the buildings, discovering equipment was missing.  They included items sold at auction two days previously.

The items could not be found but an eviction notice was served on August 20 and the group left. On-site security was then stepped up, along with extra policing.

The final report said the auction raised £188,000 from the sale of a high-speed assembly line and altogether asset sales raised £900,000.

The housebuilder also had 60 unfinished and 300 finished modules but sales could not be progressed as a third-party supplier claimed title over the modules and issues over intellectual property with them.

The final report said the administrators conducted investigations into the conduct of the directors and transactions prior to ilke’s administration, as required by law.

“Based upon the outcome of the Administrator’s investigations, there were no maters identified that require further investigation,” it said.

Manchester-based Aticus Law said in August it was representing 600 former ilke employees over how the redundancy process was managed.

Ilke’s collapse came after housebuilder L&G Modular closed in May, with the loss of hundreds of jobs in Sherburn-in-Elmet, North Yorkshire.

In recent years, ilke had grown rapidly, taking on 500 workers just last year, fuelled by major capital injections.

Investors pulled the plug in June, reportedly over concerns at the rate of cash burn. This led to a scramble to find a buyer, which sadly never materialised.

Ilke blamed “volatile macro-economic conditions and issues with the planning system” for its troubles.