MANY would-be Hunter homeowners hit by the collapse of Privium Homes are being told it will be after Christmas before they get any answers on their builds or the money they're owed.
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News of further delays have been trickling through to individuals, couples and families who fear the worst - that they will be left tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Many of them say they will be unable to proceed with their builds as construction costs soar and they continue to pay rent, mortgages and land rates on their empty blocks of land and partially-built homes.
The Department of Fair Trading has launched an investigation into eight related Privium entities which went into voluntary administration on November 17, while assessors from icare, which manages the NSW Hombuilder's Compensation Scheme, are telling Hunter home owners they won't be out to inspect their builds until after Christmas.
The administrators, FTI Consulting, also have no clear answers. At the first creditor's meeting held on Monday, administrator John Park confirmed that Privium owes secured creditors at least $23 million, and only holds about $2 million in assets after paying shareholders franked dividends of $22 million in 2019/20, and posting a loss of $28 million the same financial year.
They are unable to say whether those who have entered into contracts with Privium are bound by them, leaving them unable to engage alternative builders. Those people are being forced to fork out for legal advice, one by one.
Administrator Kelly Trenfeld said they were "encouraging homeowners to seek their own legal advice and to contact the relevant building authority in their state with regards to their individual circumstances."
Whether or not those affected can afford legal advice is another issue, particularly for those who have lost up to $16,000 paid out in deposits without mandatory insurance.
Nerina Lucas, a 58-year-old woman whose sole income is a carer's allowance that she receives in return for caring for her mother, says she cannot afford to wait or to stand still on her empty block of land at Cliftleigh.
An abandoned Privium Homes build site.
IMAGE
"That is all of the money I have coming in so all of my money has gone into building this house and for me to lose that $16,500 it has put me in such a spot, I am not even sure I can finish off a build now," she said.
"I am even worried about that block of land. It was sold to me as a house and land package deal, but as two separate contracts, and I have been told that the land is secure ... but is it? Is it secure? Am I alright?"
Miss Lucas, a former youth worker who has been unable to work since a serious car accident, said she is trying to lock in something with another builder but has been told she is locked into a contract with Privium.
"So I am seeking legal advice because I can't afford to wait, but that is also costing me money," she said.
Along with other would-be home owners in the Hunter who signed up to contracts with Privium Homes, she has to join a long list of unsecured creditors.
"So we'll be on the bottom of the list when it comes to getting any money, and we're being told even the secured creditors will have trouble getting any money.
"For me to sit and wait now for all of this to happen I am going to be looking at prices of houses to be built going up and up and up and I cannot afford to do that.
The NSW state government needed to 'wake up' she said, and make changes to offer people in her situation more protection.
"It's really difficult for people that have worked so hard to save money and it's the little people that this is happening to."
Hunter MPs have criticised the consecutive state governments which have failed to implement recommendations made in the Collins review in 2013.
It made 44 recommendations to minimise the fallout of insolvencies in the construction industry, including changes to the security of payments.
Maitland MP Jenny Atchison has made representations to the Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson, but has so far been met with silence.
"Sub-contractors aren't getting paid, people risk losing their homes, and the Government is still wringing its hands and doing nothing," she said.
That review was followed by the Murray Review, by John Murray AM, former CEO of the Master Builders Association. It was released to the federal government in 2018 and came to the same conclusions, recommending the introduction of statutory trusts.
The ALP has supported the recommendation, despite strong opposition from others with vested interests.
NSW Opposition spokeswoman on Better Regulation and Innovation, Courtney Houssos, has called on the Minister to intervene and make sure families receive the support they need, and quickly.
"Just weeks before Christmas, hundreds of families continue to have their homes - and their biggest financial investment - in limbo," she said.
"These families can't be allowed to disappear in the bureaucracy, shuffled between departments."
Ms Houssos has also put questions to leading government bureaucrats, NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler and John Tansey, executive director of regulatory policy in the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, and is awaiting their response.
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