Something very troubling is going on in the building industry. On one hand regional cities are flourishing with burgeoning growth corridors where the affordability and lifestyle of a new home is proving increasingly enticing to those shut out of the market elsewhere.
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Add to this Government financial sweeteners it is dangling in the form of extra incentives for the regions and locations like Ballarat should ring with a litany of “dreams come true” for new home owners.
Instead we are seeing the financial implosion of another building outfit leaving a trail of debt and frustration in their wake. The news shouldn’t colour opinions on the many builders who not only deliver on contracts, square away all their debts but live up to their promise to clients, suppliers and sub contractors alike. When it comes to converting what is often many families most cherished dream into a reality, there is a huge amount hanging on this promise.
But if it is only a small group of insolvent operators and dysfunctional credit lines affecting the industry then these are the ones grabbing the headlines and creating disproportionate and lasting woe.
And this is about much more than some single builder; this appears to be more and more about a system with insufficient checks on quality delivery and woefully inadequate recourse for those who are left stranded when operators go belly up.
First in April this year there was Victorian arm of Watersun Homes, gone with 800 creditors – many of them battling homeowners and small businesses – and debts around $20 million. The exact number of homes in Ballarat left unfinished or even unstarted is not known but it numbers in the dozens. While many have had to struggle through the trials of having other unknown builders pick up the pieces, some have such poor works to deal with they cannot even get started. Then of course there is the domino effect as other companies with borderline liquidity get stung.
The same problem seems to have come to light last week with another unnamed Ballarat builder who appears to have left a trail of misery and unpaid debt . But in this case, the builder has not been declared bankrupt leaving both tradesmen and homeowners with even less recourse to a fair outcome.
The latest collapse this week is equally troubling if we consider the human cost of the debt wreckage it leaves behind. Again it shows the accountability and recompense of the industry has been found wanting.