New DDL homes are up but buyers are unable to settle yet. Photo / DDL
New DDL homes are up but buyers are unable to settle yet. Photo / DDL
Auckland new-house buyers are worried after Friday's receivership of two development businesses involved in construction of many new homes at Ormiston Heights, Flat Bush.
But receivers issued reassurance, saying deposits on the new homes were held in trust accounts so were unaffected and they'll do all they canto keep people updated.
One woman said her and her husband's "dream home" had turned into a nightmare with Friday's receivership of two DDL companies associated with the South Auckland business building their new house.
She has been dealing with DDL Homes which is not in receivership. But on Friday, financier Vincent Capital put DDL Homes Ormiston and DDL Homes Ormiston 2020 under the control of receivers Neale Jackson and Brendon Gibson of Calibre Partners.
"Now, nearly 28 months and counting we are still waiting for settlement of the home and our worst fears have been realised when the receivership was announced," said the buyer.
She and her husband paid a deposit on a Maison DÓrmiston place for $675,000 more than two years ago.
"My husband and I are first-time home buyers and we signed up for our dream home in early 2020," she said.
They saved hard and had help from family. Their new home was up and looked finished but the settlement was yet to occur.
Nearby construction which started at least a year after theirs was now finished and people were living in new homes just a street away, she said.
New terraced DDL homes at Ormiston - buyers waiting on settlement. Photo / DDL
But frustratingly, the DDL project remained unfinished, she said.
"It soon became clear something was heading in the wrong direction with DDL, however we tried to keep positive," she said.
The couple became even more worried when a nearby place by the same developer was vandalised via a digger last June.
"It was obviously also very distressing when one of the homes in our lot was destroyed by vandals on a digger," she said.
Another buyer said he had also paid $675,000 for a three-bedroom terrace house in the same project. He put down a $67,500 deposit on the house which is now built and he is awaiting settlement.
"DDL has said since December that it will be ready soon. I'm distraught. We've been played emotionally and mentally. We've sold our house and are now renting," he said, telling how he was paying almost a four-figure sum each week.
Yesterday, Calibre Partners issued a media statement.
Receivers were appointed to the companies leading the development of the Maison DÓrmiston, Ormiston stage 2, Mission Heights and Ormiston Heights developments at 370 and 397 Ormiston Rd, Flat Bush, that said.
"The receivers were appointed on June 3 after the development's financier became concerned about construction progress," Calibre said.
"Decisions about what happens next will be made by the receivers. Buyers have been assured that the receivership does not affect their contracts and their deposits are held in a trust account that is also unaffected by the receivership.
"The receivers intend to provide buyers with further information as soon as they can and regular updates throughout the receivership," the statement said.
