Yet another construction company has gone bankrupt amid Australia’s deepening construction crisis, leaving dozens of homes unfinished.
Wedgewood Constructions, based in Magill in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs, was wound up on Sunday after 14 years in the business.
The South Australian company had specialized in bespoke homes, additions and heritage buildings before collapsing last week.
The development comes just days after the Lloyd Group, a civil engineering design and construction group, voluntarily went into administration with some 59 projects still to be completed, including 30 in NSW and 29 in Victoria on Friday.
Wedgewood Constructions, based in Magill in Adelaide’s eastern suburbs, was wound up on Sunday after 14 years in the business (pictured, a building site in Sydney)
Yet another construction company, Lloyd Group, was placed under voluntary administration on Friday with 59 unfinished projects in New South Wales and Victoria
The news came on the same day that housing giant Porter Davis Homes filed for bankruptcy with more than 1,500 projects still to be completed.
Market leaders have warned that the financial crisis will only exacerbate the crisis amid repeated rate hikes and skyrocketing material costs.
Wedgewood liquidator Simon Miller said only four houses were left unfinished, while the family business employed only a few workers and creditors.
‘It’s a relatively small family business, had relatives working there, but unfortunately it’s gone the way of many of the other builders with high material costs and fixed price contracts – so it’s been a really hard game to play for. some time,” he said The advertiser.
Across Australia there were 549 administrations and liquidations in March alone, an increase of 23 per cent compared to last year.
Only 11 of these companies were based in South Australia with a relatively low insolvency rate compared to collapses in the eastern states.
Construction giant Porter Davis Homes also went into administration on Friday, leaving 1,500 homes unfinished in Melbourne and Brisbane
Australia’s construction industry has faced a wave of insolvencies due to import costs
The Lloyd Group has appointed Deloitte Turnaround & Restructuring partners Sam Marsden, Sal Algeri, Jason Tracy and Tim Norman as volunteer trustees of six companies that make up the Lloyd Group.
Started as a family business in South East Melbourne in 1979, the company has since grown to employ approximately 200 people in offices in Geelong, Sydney and Brisbane.
One of the company’s 30 unfinished jobs in NSW was the construction of the Willowdale Sports Pavilion near the growing community of Leppington, adjacent to the proposed Western Sydney Airport.
It was also commissioned by Blacktown City Council to build a sports facility at Schofields in Sydney’s north west.
Administrators will urgently review the company’s finances for the numerous projects to determine the financial situation.
‘From the very beginning, our culture of integrity, teamwork, excellence and innovation has been the cornerstone of our business,’ reads Lloyd Group’s website.
Victoria-based Porter Davis, which has been in business for more than 20 years and earned $256 million in revenue in 2021, also filed for bankruptcy on Friday.
Market leaders have warned the construction industry crisis will worsen amid repeated rate hikes and skyrocketing material costs (pictured, construction in Sydney)
Traditions seeking revenge are suspected of being behind a fireball attack on a Porter Davis home (pictured) in revenge for unpaid work after the builder went bankrupt on Friday
The company is the nation’s 13th-largest home builder, having built 1,734 homes in fiscal year 2020-2021.
The company left more than 1,500 homes under construction in Melbourne, another 200 in Queensland and a further 779 projects due to begin soon.
A disgruntled tradesman is suspected of being behind a fireball attack on a Porter Davis home in an attempt to repay unpaid work.
Images of the house under construction in the Riverfield housing estate in Clyde, on Melbourne’s southeastern outskirts, showed the nearly completed house ablaze.
Firefighters desperately tried to save the house, but the flames had already taken hold on the roof and much of it collapsed.
Police launched an investigation into the mysterious fire after witnesses said a man entered the property shortly before the fire broke out.
It comes after others reported that Porter Davies properties were targeted by vandals, with the windows of three buildings on a single block reportedly smashed.
Construction costs rose at a record pace in mid-2022 and were almost 5 percent more expensive than the previous quarter.
The rate softened in the next quarter, however, falling to just under 2 percent.