UK Construction and Law

An Oldham landlord brings in a new contractor to correct defects and finish 30 flats after terminating the original builder for delay

By Staff Writer  |  26 October 2026

First Choice Homes Oldham says the replacement contractor's survey of its 3.7 million pounds Shaw Street scheme in Royton found substantial outstanding work, defects to correct and design elements that need attention to meet building regulations.

First Choice Homes Oldham has appointed John Southworth Builders Ltd to complete Shaw Street, a development of 30 affordable one and two bedroom apartments in Royton. The housing association says the contractor will be on site in the coming weeks and that the scheme is due to be finished by the end of July next year.

The association appointed Robwood Construction Limited to build Shaw Street in May 2022, with completion scheduled for February 2024. It terminated that contract in June this year, citing unacceptable delays on a project that should have been finished in 2024. It says the delays initially arose from a variety of issues, and that poor contractor performance led to the termination.

A survey before restart

John Southworth has surveyed the building and the external areas after questions were raised about the quality of the earlier work. According to the association, it identified substantial outstanding construction work, defects requiring correction and design elements needing further attention to meet building regulations.

However, the scale of the issues discovered means the project cannot simply be restarted from where the previous contractor stopped.

Andy Ewart, Executive Director of Corporate Services and Deputy Chief Executive, First Choice Homes Oldham

Mr Ewart said the problems identified needed to be corrected so that the building could be completed safely and certified appropriately. He said the association shared the frustration about the time the development had taken, but that it now had a contractor, a detailed plan and visible progress on site to come. He has also said that the final extra cost of the delays and the additional work is not yet known, but will be a substantial sum.

What a completion contractor inherits

The association has not said how the extra cost will be met, or whether it will seek to recover any of it from the original contractor. The original contractor's position has not been published.

The scheme was scheduled for completion in February 2024. The association now expects the 30 flats to be finished by the end of July next year, under a contractor that did not build the work it is taking over. The association says the work to be done now includes correction of defects and further design work, as well as the construction left outstanding when the first contract ended.

The replacement contractor found work that could not simply be carried on, so the Royton scheme will restart with correction work before completion.

For employers weighing termination on a delayed residential scheme, a full survey by the completion contractor before restart shows what must be corrected before the remaining cost can be counted.