Podular liquidation: Customer pays $350k for home that has not been delivered

Eli Thomas and Sophie Annen, pictured with daughter Charlie-Rose, fear they could've lost 20 years of life savings. Photo / Dave Lintott

Eli Thomas fears he may have to spend the next 30 years of his life paying a $350,000 mortgage for a home he doesn’t have.

The 35-year-old thought he was setting his young family up for life when he ordered a modular home from builder Podular Housing Systems Limited.

He’s so far made $350,000 in progress payments as well as $25,000 in bank interest payments for the home Podular promised to build in its Hamilton factory before delivering it to Thomas’ picturesque Martinborough property, about 80km north of Wellington.

The home should’ve arrived in February, ahead of the April birth of Thomas and partner Sophie Annen’s daughter Charlie-Rose, he said.

However, it still hasn’t arrived.

Now Podular has gone bust, owing an estimated $5.2 million to creditors, according to the liquidator’s first report.

Its collapse could also spell financial ruin for Thomas and his young family.

“If I lose the house and I lose the money, I’m going to spend the rest of my life paying a mortgage on a house I don’t have,” he said.

“I’ve poured 20 years of my life savings into my first new house build, and it’s just heartbreaking.”

Thomas is one of 13 customers who have shared their stories with the Herald, saying they’ve lost jobs and been left in tears and feeling physically sick from the stress of dealing with Podular and its director Charles Innes.

Eli Thomas and Sophie Annen with daughter Charlie-Rose at the site of their unbuilt house in South Wairarapa. Photo / Dave Lintott

The couple say the situation home builder Podular has left them in is "absolutely horrible". Photo / Dave Lintott

Gerry Rea Partners - the liquidators called in to try to find money to repay customers and businesses owed funds by Podular – have so far identified 217 creditors.

Delays delivering Thomas’ home have meant he and partner Annen have had to spend the past seven months caring for their new daughter in a rough trailer home in the paddock, he said.

They have no running water. Any water they use has to be ordered in.

Their toilet is a compost toilet.

“You can’t live in a caravan with a newborn baby - it’s horrible, absolutely horrible,” Thomas said.

Thomas hopes he can at least reclaim his home from Podular’s factory.

Having suffered months of delays, he’s visited the company’s Hamilton factory numerous times to see his house and to complain to staff, he said.

He said his home is one of the most complete home builds in the factory, being weather-tight with its roof and walls on but still lacking its interiors.

He wants to pick it up as is, but is unable to do so at the moment due to the company’s liquidation, he said.

If he doesn’t get the home, he said he won’t be able to afford to build a new house, nor will he be able to afford to rent “because I’m paying a mortgage on something I don’t have”.

It’s a stress that - together with the trials of living with baby Charlie-Rose in their rough caravan - has at times “almost separated me and my partner’s relationship”, Thomas said.

“It’s a horrible position to be in for us, both financially and more so emotionally, I think.”