Customers asked to collect their 'homes' from Bond Homes

Bond Homes went into voluntary administration on July 31, leaving 21 people without jobs, 21 incomplete houses and another 40 people with preliminary paperwork but no construction.

Voluntary administrators said all up, more than $2.1 million was owed to a variety of creditors including staff, suppliers, subcontractors and homebuyers.

"The company was experiencing financial difficulties from at least 30 June, 2020," administrator Nathan Deppeler from forensic and solvency accountants Worrells said in a report released this week.

"The company has been adversely affected by increasing material costs, labour shortages,reduced margins and ongoing cashflow pressures."

He said based on preliminary investigations, Bond Homes might have become insolvent from at least June 30, 2021, but the exact date and cause was subject to further analysis.

Of the 21 customers with unfinished homes, one was still at stumps stage and no physical work on the house had begun at the Ring Road factory.

For Ballarat worker Wayne Cockburn his dreams of moving out of a Keilor rental and onto a Great Western block had been shattered.

"We are the people with the house they didn't even start," he said.

"We have nothing to show - not a nut, not a bolt. We don't even have access to the plans or soil tests at this stage.

"We signed up and put a lot of money down in February 2022. My concern is that back then there were building companies collapsing and we asked about how solvent this company was.

"Bond Homes advised there were no concerns and the company was fine. Now we find the company had been experiencing problems since 2020.

"I have some very serious questions."

Mr Cockburn said anyone who had signed documents or paid any money to Bond Homes should contact Worrells as soon as possible.

The 21 homes also included 10 taken to properties but not fully finished plus another 10 still in pieces at the Mitchell Park factory.

The administrators said some creditors had come to the site to pick up building materials that had not been paid for, while others had arranged for trucks to pick up what had been done on their homes so far.

"These people are customers. They are not in the construction or transport industries. They have to organise cranes and big trucks and sort out transport to their properties," Mr Cockburn said.

"That's completely unreasonable. It's a bloody mess."

The administrators have allowed access to the Ring Road site, but Mr Deppeler said after Thursday the property would be in the hands of the landlord.

"He's been good. The landlord understands you can't move something as big as a house quickly," he said.

"We told him we expect that the site will be clear and people will have made their arrangements by the end of September."

He said a display home - which also acted as a site office - would be auctioned and that items such as forklifts and office furniture were also being removed or sold.

The report said creditors were owed amounts up to $198,000.

Mr Deppeler and fellow administrator Matthew Jess have called a meeting of creditors via Zoom from 2pm on Monday, September 4.

"We'll be recommending that the creditors vote to put the company into liquidation." Mr Deppeler said.

"The creditors include employees that are owed entitlements. That's about half a million dollars.

"If Bond Homes goes into liquidation they'll be able to access the Federal Government's Fair Entitlements Guarantee Scheme. The directors won't be included in that.

"We also have 21 homeowners who are likely to be creditors as well.

"Suppliers such as subcontractors or people who have supplied items such as tiles, timber, nails and so on are owed about $1 million all up."

Mr Deppeler said he had combed through company records, compiling a list of creditors and customers.

"We have written to them all," he said.

"But I suspect there may be people who've been hard to contact.

"I'd urge them to come forward, especially if they want documents related to their homes."

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