Off-plan buyers in Dennis Family Corporation’s Summerlin Greens launch sunset clause class action

With apartment developers cancelling contracts across the state under legally-fine but morally-ambiguous sunset clauses, some buyers are taking matters into their own hands.

• Explained: How Qld’s sunset clauses work

With apartment developers cancelling contracts across the state under legally-fine but morally-ambiguous sunset clauses, some buyers are taking matters into their own hands.

Citybeat understands class actions are in the works by purchasers in multiple large developments in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.

The clauses allow either party in an off-plan apartment contract to terminate if construction isn’t complete by a set date.

With property prices soaring in the past three years, they have created an avenue for some developers to ditch existing buyers and resell for a windfall.

But not all buyers are willing to sit back and cop being priced out of the market and losing hundreds of thousands in lost capital gains.

Fresh action has been launched against Dennis Family Corporation (DFC), the group behind five-stage Banyo development Summerlin Green.

Magnolia Residences is stage two of the Summerlin Banyo master-planned estate

Plaintiffs Emil Bighi and Shoba Kumar lodged their claim on Wednesday via Carter Capner Law, with director Peter Carter saying his clients represented a group of up to 27 buyers in the project.

In the claim, buyers say their apartments commenced construction in 2022 and had a projected settlement date of April 2024.

With the build still unfinished by February this year, the developer told buyers their contracts would be terminated as the project was no longer “financially viable”.

The buyers are arguing the termination was “unlawful and ineffective” and are seeking compo for the difference in value for the apartments since they signed up.

Mr Carter said some of the buyers had been “left homeless and priced out of a market that has moved dramatically beyond their reach”.

Peter Carter of Carter Capner Lawyers. Cartoon by Brett Lethbridge

“Some have sold existing homes in anticipation of moving into new apartments, only to find themselves scrambling for alternative accommodation — or unable to afford anything comparable at today’s inflated prices”.

DFC, founded in 1960 by Burt Dennis, said it would defend the action, saying it had no choice but to cancel contracts in three stages of the development after its builder went into liquidation in mid-2024.

“The liquidation of the builder impacted the financial viability of the project and DFC exercised its contractual rights to terminate in those circumstances,” it said in a statement.

“DFC has engaged with purchasers to seek to resolve all contract issues.

“At all times, DFC has sought to act in line with its contractual obligations and will continue to do so.”

New role for Pitt

Former Queensland Treasurer and Speaker Curtis Pitt is hanging out his shingle after quitting politics last year, partnering with an ex-PwC consultant in Adelaide as part of an expansion into the South Australian market.

The former Labor MP quit politics ahead of the Queensland state election last October after holding the far north seat of Mulgrave for 15 years, including a three-year stint as Treasurer and more than six years as Speaker.

Curtis Pitt has a new career. Picture: Liam Kidston

His new advisory firm, Pitt & Partners, is still working on a new website, but is described as specialising in “investment strategy, clean energy advisory, cross-border migration programs and public policy engagement”.

And it has already expanded interstate via a “strategic alliance” with Adelaide-based MCA Capital.

MCA Capital is led by ex-PwC Consultant Andy Xing, who also serves as a councillor in the Burnside Council in Adelaide’s blue ribbon eastern suburbs.

Brisbane in Teneo’s sights

Last week’s acquisition of PWC’s restructuring team by global firm Teneo will see a new office established in Brisbane.

Teneo, which already has offices in Melbourne and Sydney, as well as in Japan, Singapore, China and Hong Kong, had previously focused mostly on marketing, communications and investor relations.

The team – comprising around 80 former PwC staff – will offer a wide range of financial advisory services, including deep expertise in local and international restructuring and insolvency situations.