The director of a housebuilding company has had his personal properties arrested over his troubled firm’s debts to Treasury.

Haven Homes’ debts include an unpaid VAT bill of almost £164,000.

Details emerged as creditors of Haven Homes packed into court for the first stage of a court action relating to a winding up petition.

At the heart of the dispute is The Meadows development in Castletown where work stopped last year and a number of homes remain unfinished, while building work has not even started on some plots.

There were claims in court by advocates for the petitioners that some would-be homebuyers had not registered their claims as they were ‘scared’ they could lose their deposits.

The winding up petition has been presented by Castletown builders merchants J. Qualtrough and Co, John Qualtrough and Ballasalla-based investment company Sherwood Ltd who claim they are owned more than £5m between them.

But the court heard that judgment and execution had been awarded in favour of two creditors, for £27,492 and £29,000 respectively, and there was a debt of £163,957 owed to Treasury’s Customs and Excise Division.

The court was told that the Coroner has arrested Haven Homes’ director Dave Lewis’s personal properties to secure a Treasury debt.

Advocate for Qualtroughs, Gillian Christian argued that Haven Homes was in a ‘mess’, was unable to its debts as they fell due, and it was ‘just and equitable’ for the company to be wound up.

She told the court: ‘There are other parties that have not formally registered their claims as they are frankly scared to lose their deposits.’

Mrs Christian said estate agents Black Grace Cowley were owed £35,000 and there were a number of suppliers who had yet to make a claim. She said Manx Utilities and the Income Tax Division both have claims but it was not yet known how much they are owed.

Also in court was a claimant who has a claim arising out of a Haven Homes development in Ramsey.

Mrs Christian said the evidence was that the company should be in possession of between £1.8m and £2.3m which should be available to pay out to creditors. She said it was ‘just inexplicable’ for Haven to claim no money is owed to her clients.

Oliver Helfrich, advocate for Sherwood, said there were ‘red flags’ including plots being sold and not accounted for. ‘These things have been disguised and now come to light many, many months later.’

But Haven’s advocate Mrs Unsworth said the petition was ‘doomed to fail’. She said this was a genuine dispute between the parties in relation to the development agreement and it was for an expert to determine, as per that agreement, and not a matter of law.

She said: ‘This is not a hopelessly insolvent company with no access to funds.’

Deemster Andrew Corlett said the picture he was getting was of ‘many people’ apart from the petitioners owed a ‘substantial amount of money’. ‘It’s only a matter of time before the company goes under,’ he suggested.

Mrs Unsworth disputed this and said her client would say the company was balance sheet solvent and was working through liquidity issues.

She said the debts - except the amount owing to Treasury - were either disputed or had been paid.

The £27,492 debt owed to one supplier in relation to the court judgment had been paid that morning, the court heard.

Mrs Christian said: ‘We’ve now heard one creditor has been paid. It’s cherry picking some creditors over others when there is an acceptance of liquidity issues.’

Qualtrough’s had lodged a statutory demand for £53,616 in relation to the supply of building goods and materials for The Meadows of which Mr Lewis had admitted around £21,000 and paid that sum last week.

John Qualtrough, who provided the land to be developed for a consideration of £3m and provided £1m of additional funding, has served a statutory demand for £250,000 for part-payment of the land but claims he is owed a net amount of £2,585,100.

Sherwood Ltd, meanwhile, has issued a demand for £2,529,882 which it says remains outstanding but says it is owed a minimum of £2,716,929.

The case will return to court on the first available date after March 21.