A young couple who poured $97,000 toward their dream home are left with only a concrete slab after a major construction company suddenly collapsed, leaving hundreds of clients in limbo.
Bethany McLaughlin, 27, and her fiancé Joel Patty, 29, from Melbourne, bought a piece of land in Lara, northeast of Geelong, in September 2018.
In January 2020, the couple put down a down payment on a house they had been told would be ready to begin construction in June of that year.
They signed a contract with Victorian construction company Porter Davis and, during the Covid lockdowns, designed the house they were soon expected to call home.
Due to delays in securing title to the land, construction did not begin until last September – two years after they signed the original contract.
The couple was then told they could move in August this year.
But on Friday, Porter Davis went bankrupt, leaving Ms. McLaughlin, Mr. Patty and more than 1,500 other customers in limbo.
Bethany McLaughlin, 27, and her fiancé Joel Patty, 29, from Melbourne, bought a plot of land in Lara, northeast of Geelong, in September 2018. the sting
“There was no heads up. We found out on the news and we were just gutted,” Ms McLaughlin told Daily Mail Australia.
“We wanted nothing but for our house to be built a long time ago, since we bought our land five years ago.”
Ms McLaughlin, a nurse, revealed she was left in tears at the news that the construction company had collapsed.
The pair had been sharing regular updates on their social media accounts of the construction process.
In one shot, the pair can be seen beaming as they announce they can finally stand on their land, years after buying it.
But once construction work began, the couple suffered constant setbacks.
The couple paid $97,000 for their house, but were left with a concrete slab
Ms McLaughlin shared the news of Porter Davis’s collapse on her TikTok account in an emotional video describing the ordeal she went through building her home
“At first I was devastated because a country’s title was a disaster, and then this was the icing on the cake,” Ms McLaughlin said.
“But after processing it all, I saw that others are worse off. So many have been effectuated.’
The couple have filed a claim with the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority in hopes of getting their money back and another construction company taking over.
“I am no longer optimistic. We just have to wait and see what happens,” Ms McLaughlin said.
Porter Davis told the couple they were struggling to get lumber, but Ms. McLaughlin believes they had the materials and were not paying their contractors.
“All the houses around us had wood,” she said.
The couple bought a piece of land in Victoria in 2018, but construction only started last year
The photo shows the condition of the house in which the couple stayed
Ms McLaughlin said her heart went out to those affected by the company’s collapse, including employees, contractors and customers, while the future of her home remains unclear.
Grant Thornton Australia was appointed as liquidators for Porter Davis on Friday.
The company currently has more than 1,500 homes under construction in Victoria and a further 200 homes in Queensland.
There are also 779 signed contracts with customers where construction has yet to begin.
A spokesman for Grant Thornton said an investigation into the cause of the collapse was underway.
“The extremely challenging housing environment has directly contributed to the financial position of the PDH Group, with rising input costs, supply chain delays, labor shortages and a decline in demand for new homes in 2023 impacting the liquidity of the group,” they said.
“Despite the financial support of shareholders and lenders, the Group has exhausted all options to secure the further financing necessary to keep Porter Davis in viable operations, and the directors have been left with no choice but to liquidate the companies.”
The couple do not know whether they will see their money back, but hope that another construction company can do the job
Porter Davis’s now 470 employees have also been let down, with the company forecasting fiscal year 2023 revenue of $555 million.
Another couple buying with Porter Davis, Nicole Gray, 31, and Owen Lawrence, 38, spent $200,000 on their home in Armstrong Creek, south of Geelong, after signing the contract more than a year ago.
“We were supposed to be around May and now we’re just completely left in the dark,” Ms Gray told the Australian Financial Review.
‘Our rental contract also expires in May, so we will have to look for another place to live quickly.’
The couple signed the contract for construction in December 2021, but the works only started in May last year.
About a quarter of the construction remains to be completed.
Another couple already paid $440,000 for their home in Porter Davis, which cost an estimated $481,000, despite not yet having electricity, plumbing, or floors.
A webinar will be held Tuesday morning for those affected by the collapse of Porter Davis.