Pregnant Tara Ferguson secures rental after family faced ending up homeless following collapse of Gold Coast’s Pivotal Homes

A family facing homelessness after the sudden collapse of a major Gold Coast builder has secured a rental – but they have a long road ahead dealing with the QBCC.

A family of five resigned to living in a tent after the collapse of a Gold Coast building giant have secured a temporary roof over their heads.

Tara Ferguson, who is pregnant with a fourth child with partner Brodie, feared she would raise her new baby homeless when Pivotal Homes went into liquidation last week.

Tara Ferguson, Brodie Lehner and their children Cameron, 9, and Kayliegh, 3, have found a rental after fearing homelessness due to the Pivotal Homes collapse. Picture: Richard Gosling

They paid the company $250,000 to build a home in Beaudesert and found out it had gone bust while watching the news. Their home, already delayed, is unfinished and unsecure with the front and garage door yet to be fitted.

Within hours of the Bulletin reporting the family’s sad situation on Monday, Ms Ferguson had secured a rental.

“We’re so happy and so grateful,” she said.

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“We did tell them (the estate agent) of our plight – the prospect of living in a tent – and I think that’s what gave them some sympathy for us.”

Ms Ferguson said she hoped her story would encourage others impacted by Pivotal’s collapse to speak out.

“There are people who have it worse out there,” she said.

“Those are the people I’m thinking of when I talk about what happened to us.

“If you know anyone in this predicament, speak up, say something.”

Her family’s struggles show how stressed the housing market had become, Ms Ferguson said.

“A major Queensland building company has gone bust, which is really shocking.

“There’s a rental crisis. It shows there is a major problem in the industry.

“Hopefully something will be done, because that’s what this is really about.”

Pivotal’s clients have been urged to lodge a complaint under the Queensland Building and Construction insurance scheme, which assists in securing temporary accommodation while they find someone to finish the build.

With a number of high profile collapses in the industry this year, including Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild, the QBCC has projected a long wait for the application to be processed.

Ms Ferguson and Mr Lehner said they were told it would be at least four months before their application is processed, and even longer before a solution is found.

Family facing homelessness after Pivotal collapse

May 31: A pregnant Gold Coast woman fears her family will be forced to live in a tent with the collapse of a major Queensland building company putting their dream home in limbo.

Tara Ferguson and her partner Brodie Lehner had planned to move their three children and baby number four – due later this year – into a new Pivotal Homes residence in Beaudesert in February.

The couple contracted Pivotal for the $250,000 build, signing in March of 2021 in the hopes of breaking free from the rental cycle.

Pivotal Homes managing director Michael Irwin speaks about the collapse earlier this week. Picture: Richard Gosling

The time frame for the home was pushed back with the company citing labour and supply shortages. And then on Thursday last week the pair’s plans were completely thrown into chaos when Pivotal was placed in liquidation.

The Surfers Paradise based company, which this financial year completed more than 100 jobs totalling $30.5 million, was forced to shut up shop with Managing Director Michael Irwin blaming tradies, who he said were “gouging” up prices unnecessarily.

With just a month left on their current lease and a hefty mortgage on the unfinished property, the couple told the Bulletin they were preparing to welcome their new baby into homelessness.

The family were considering living in a tent after the devastating collapse. Picture: Richard Gosling

“We’ve got a tent lined up – a tent on Brodie’s brother’s property – but obviously that’s not ideal,” Ms Ferguson said.

“The boys start a new school next term. This is a big change for them, especially for my oldest since he’s on the spectrum. We just wanted to make it as easy as possible and this has thrown a spanner into it, and we’re not even coping.”

The couple said that they only became aware of their builder’s collapse through the news, receiving confirmation on Monday night from the appointed liquidators Worrells.

“As we were making the staged payments, we noticed they kept getting more and more, and we realised there wasn’t enough money left on our loan,” Mr Lehner said.

“It was nowhere near enough to finish the house. I thought it was a bit off, and then a couple of days later they’re going into liquidation.

The family’s would-be home has been abandoned.

“We tried to contact them but they’d already fired all their staff and closed the doors.”

Pivotal’s clients have been urged to lodge a complaint under the Queensland Building and Construction insurance scheme, which assists in securing temporary accommodation while they find someone to finish the build.

With a number of high profile collapses in the industry this year, including Gold Coast-based Condev and industry giant Probuild, the QBCC has projected a long wait for the application to be processed.

Ms Ferguson and Mr Lehner said they were told it would be at least four months before their application is processed, and even longer before a solution is found.

“Until then, we’re stuck with nowhere to live and a baby on the way,” Mr Lehner said.

Inside the Pivotal property.

Their unfinished home is one of more than 100 currently under construction with Pivotal.

It was deserted just before lockup phase, leaving it without a front or garage door and vulnerable to squatters and vandals.

Pivotal Managing Director Michael Irwin said last Friday the hundreds of families with unfinished properties were in a “net gain position”, having paid less for the work than its current market value.

Ms Lehner, however, said she was looking for a home for her family, not to spin a profit.

“Thanks for the work you’ve done, but we’ve still got an unfinished house sitting there for months,” she said of Mr Irwin’s comments.

Mr Lehner, a tradesman himself, said he sympathises with Pivotal’s financial struggles.

“The building industry is going broke,” he said. “There’s a lot of big companies suffering from Covid, building supplies and tradies knocking up their prices.”

“Being angry about it, it’s not going to do anything,” Ms Lehner added.

“We’re just disappointed that we didn’t receive any kind of communication, no email or anything. That would have been nice.”

Worrells told the Bulletin they were not responsible for any actions which took place prior to Pivotal’s liquidation.