‘No trust’: Buyers of defective units in Parramatta vent their anger

Buyers of apartments in two 22-storey Parramatta towers found to have serious defects say they are trapped in a nightmare, with some no longer able to get loans from banks to settle on their purchases.

The plight of the buyers of apartments off the plan in the Imperial complex in Parramatta’s CBD was detailed during a NSW parliamentary inquiry on Monday into the regulation of building standards.

Orders were first issued to the developer of the twin Parramatta towers in June after serious defects were found.Credit: James Brickwood

They have been prevented from terminating contracts for units in the Imperial, and getting back deposits they put down years ago, after the Building Commissioner’s senior staff made changes in July to defect orders which had been issued to the developer.

Oliver Burgess, who signed a contract about four years ago for a unit in the Imperial, said the changes to the orders had “unfairly damaged” the purchasers, leaving them in limbo.

“If I was able to rescind, I would definitely rescind because there’s so many defects,” he told the inquiry.

“There’s absolutely no trust. There are so many issues it’s insulting. They tried to just hand us off a dangerous building – I would definitely not want to live there.”

A prohibition order in June had a condition preventing both the issuing of an occupation certificate and the registration of a strata plan for the complex on Hassall Street until defects were fixed.

Changes to the order weeks later by the Building Commissioner’s office allowed the strata plan to be registered, thereby making the buyers’ contracts binding before a sunset clause was due to expire.

The developer behind the apartment project is Merhis Group, which has received strategic planning advice from former Labor planning minister Frank Sartor.

The two-tower project known as Imperial in Parramatta’s CBD contains 179 apartments.Credit: James Brickwood

Merhis has previously said that “no purchaser will be disadvantaged” once defects in the Imperial are fixed and inspections completed by the building watchdog.

However, Mr Burgess said some buyers of units off the plan in the complex could no longer get loans from the big four banks because of publicity surrounding the defects. Purchasers were also locked into a highly inflated price for apartments which, if they attempted to sell, would be worth “a lot less”.

Patrick Wang, who signed a contract for a two-bedroom apartment five years ago, said he was left in a situation where he was unable to settle or exit his contract. “There is no trust from myself to the developer. They definitely don’t have our best interests at heart,” he told the inquiry.

His application for a loan on the unit in the Imperial which he had paid a deposit for was declined after its valuation was changed due to the emergence of defects in the building.

Mr Wang, whose father has also purchased a unit off the plan in the building, said there needed to be “fairness and clarity” for purchasers if sunset clauses could be altered in favour of vendors.

The buyers of apartments in the two towers, which have 179 units between them, have also complained about a lack of notification from Fair Trading about the issuing of defect notices.

Labor MLC Courtney Houssos said the purchasers had been left in the dark on their major financial investment.

“The NSW government is making decisions on their financial future, but failing to even include them in the conversation,” she said.

Greens MP David Shoebridge, who chaired the inquiry, said the buyers had found themselves caught in contracts for a building which had “innumerable defects”.

“There is an obvious problem in our laws when purchasers are trapped for four, five or more years with a contract on an apartment which is not yet complete and ... has serious defects,” he said.

“There needs to be an escape clause and some protection for purchasers.”

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