Adelaide mother-of-three forced to walk away from dream home as developer demands extra $140k to finish construction

The dream of building a new home has turned into a nightmare for an Adelaide mum-of-three, after the expiation of her contract’s “sunset clause”.

A mother-of-three from Adelaide had to walk away from her dream home, after she told she would need to pay an extra $144,000 for builders to finish construction. Picture: 7NEWS

The dream of building a new home has turned into a nightmare for a mother-of-three from the southern suburbs.

Fidelma McCorry said she signed up for the Somerton Waters, Brighton Rd, development – constructed by Lofty Building Group – in October 2021, expecting to move into her new home by June 2022.

Nearly two years on from that expected move in date, Ms McCorry said the build is nowhere near complete and the developer is asking her to pay an extra $144,000 after the expiation of her contract’s “sunset clause”.

A sunset clause is a statement in the contract of sale that effectively puts a time limit on the contract’s validity – in Ms McCorry’s case, the fine print in her contract stipulated that the price of the build could be renegotiated if the home was not completed by the end of 2023.

In accordance with this clause, Ms McCorry received a letter on April 16 requesting she pay an additional $144,000 due to increased labour and building material costs.

Fidelma McCorry signed up for a development constructed by Lofty Building Group in October 2021, with the expectation of moving into her new home by June 2022. Picture: 7NEWS

“I literally had my mouth open. I was warned there might be a slight increase, but $144,000 is beyond the realms of possibility,” Ms McCorry said in an interview with Nine News.

She told Seven News she was “barely scraping through” with the original price of the build.

The developer said the build had been impacted by unexpected delays, rising costs and labour challenges and multiple townhouses in the Somerton Waters development were affected.

In a statement, it said buyers could pay to cover the additional costs or terminate their contracts and receive their deposits back.

A disappointed Ms McCorry had chosen the second option.

“I’ll take my money back and that’s that dream gone … it’s devastating, it really is.”

“Myself and my three kids were really looking forward to moving into this new house, it’s a lovely spot not far from Somerton Beach.”

The state government has initiated a review to ensure consumer protection and prevent the exploitation of sunset clauses.

According to the Master Builders Association, sunset clauses are not uncommon and consumers should conduct thorough research before entering into off-the-plan property purchases.