It comes as Enfield Council prepares a new strategy for taking the Edmonton redevelopment zone forward, reports Joe Ives, Local Democracy Reporter
A developer building homes for Enfield Council at Meridian Water has had a multibillion-pound lawsuit filed against it.
On Tuesday (30th) reports emerged of a class-action lawsuit seeking between £2.2billion and £4.5bn in compensation for alleged collusion and anti-competitive conduct.
As well as Meridian One developer Vistry, the claim is filed against Taylor Wimpey, Bellway, Berkeley Group, Persimmon and Countryside Partnerships.
The lawsuit, which will need to be approved by the Competition Appeal Tribunal to proceed, alleges Vistry and the other companies were engaged in collusion and anticompetitive conduct between October 2025 and June 2026.
It was filed on behalf of more than 700,000 people who bought new-build homes during this period. The claimants allege the companies shared sensitive information on prices, buyer incentives and sales activity.
It’s not known whether anyone living at Meridian Water is involved in bringing the legal action.
Vistry Group declined to comment for the story published by Sky News.
The firm has had a challenging year, with shares on the London Stock Exchange dropping sharply in March and fluctuating since.
It comes at a time of transition for Meridian Water. At a cabinet meeting last week, the local authority agreed to begin a new strategy that will see private developers gradually take over housing delivery across the site.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting last Wednesday (24th), before news of the lawsuit broke, deputy council leader Michael Rye acknowledged Vistry had got mixed coverage in the press.
Nevertheless, the deputy leader said the council was “confident this is a sound firm” and added: “We’re assured that Vistry are very much a viable going concern and are an important partner for the council both here and in Ponders End.”
Cllr Rye also said the council had received “a very positive response” to its plans to sell off large parts of the Meridian Water housing zone, so that these sites can be led by private developers rather than the council.
Although Vistry is already a construction partner for Meridian One, the first phase of the wider development area, until now the council has continued its strategic role as ‘master developer’ for the whole area.
Following a decision made by the previous Labour administration in February, this is now about to change.
“We’ve had a surprisingly large number of people showing an interest,” Cllr Rye said, regarding progress so far with selling various Meridian Water sites. “The market for us is warm at present.”
Cllr Rye predicted “some sensible sales will move forward” once the administration’s new strategy for the project is ready.
At last week’s cabinet meeting, Tory councillors agreed to a “market testing strategy” for the potential sale of several parcels of land at Meridian Water. These have been split into five sections: Meanwhile South, Meanwhile North, Station Quarter, Phase 2 South and Phase 3 South.
An amendment to the current development agreement with Vistry Partnerships Ltd was also signed off. This will allow “the conditional sale of land to approved operators and long-term leaseholders” of blocks included in Phase 1B and Phase 2 of the development.
Cllr Rye, who is also cabinet member for planning and regeneration, was granted delegated authority “to consider feedback from market testing and to determine the best route to market for disposal of sites and/or the procurement strategy for seeking bids for land, works and services or a strategic partner”.
Joanne Drew, the council’s executive director of housing and regeneration, was also authorised to sign-off appropriate agreements “for the disposal of the council’s freehold of Phase 1B (Block D) and Phase 2 (Block M2) to existing long leaseholders in lieu of their existing long headleases”.
The senior officer has also been tasked with agreeing additional government funding to help speed up completion of strategic infrastructure works.
These works, which include the construction of new roads, bridges and parks across Meridian Water, began over two years ago.
The civic centre previously secured £195million in government funding to support the works.
The council is also currently awaiting a response, due this month, for an application submitted to the City Hall Developer Investment Fund (CHDIF).
In addition, at last week’s meeting the cabinet approved use of budget funds set aside for Meridian Water to support “the delivery of place community, commercial, and activation initiatives that underpin the attractiveness of the scheme for residents and future investors”.
Any land sales or contract awards will be brought back to cabinet for scrutiny before any final decisions are made.
The council has frequently been criticised for slow progress at Meridian Water to date. In total, only 301 of the 10,000-home target have been completed so far.
But the new Conservative administration hopes to soon speed up delivery through its new strategy. Speaking at cabinet last week, cabinet member for housing Lee Chamberlain said he “very much welcomes” the agreed change in approach to Meridian Water.
Cllr Chamberlain added: “The council can’t be a blocker and this is obviously enabling us to put these things out to market and get them built at a much faster rate than we would be capable of doing.”
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