Interpath appointed as administrator for Camstead Homes

James Clark and Howard Smith from Interpath have been appointed joint administrators to Camstead Limited, Scotfield Group Limited and Yelcon Limited, together known as Camstead Homes.Based in Leeds, Camstead Homes specialises in building “prestigious” residential developments in prime and rural locations.

Camstead Homes called in administrators after it was hit by sustained trading difficulties over 2024 in light of various economic pressures, which led to cash shortages and increased pressure from suppliers. 

While the directors sought to explore options to address these issues, “unfortunately a solvent solution could not be found and the difficult decision was taken to seek the appointment of administrators”.

Following the appointment of the administrators, all work that was scheduled to be completed by the group will be paused while Interpath tries to find solutions for all sites.

Two members of staff have been retained to assist the joint administrators while they explore options for the sites, but 20 members of staff have been made redundant. 

James Clark, managing director at Interpath and joint administrator, said: “2024 has been another challenging year for the building and construction industry, with housebuilders continuing to battle with the impact of rising raw material costs, wafer-thin margins and the impact of high interest rates and rising mortgage costs on consumers.

“While the Government’s planning reforms have given hope to many across the industry, unfortunately, the trading difficulties encountered by Camstead Homes proved too challenging to overcome.”

He added: “We appreciate news of the administration will cause a great deal of concern for those homeowners and residents of sites where development work remains underway. Our immediate priority is to work with key stakeholders to find alternative solutions which may enable work across these sites to be completed.

“In particular, we will be working with our appointed agents to market the Blackberry Walk site at Derwenthorpe. We are hopeful for significant interest from this process and would encourage parties interested in acquiring this site to make contact with us and our appointed agents, Watling Real Estate, at the earliest opportunity.”