Busby Homes: Heidelberg man left with holes in walls of unfinished home following company’s collapse
A victim of the collapse of luxury home builder Busby says his unfinished Heidelberg house was left with holes in the walls and ill-fitting windows, while other former clients lost their deposits.
Outer East
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A victim of a luxury home builder that has gone into liquidation fears he will have to fork out thousands of dollars for emergency accommodation and repairs.
Heidelberg’s Will, who did not want to use his surname, is one of 10 clients with unfinished homes following the demise of Heathmont-based Busby Homes.
Maroondah Leader revealed last week a liquidator was appointed on January 23 for the family owned builder, which has 114 creditors owed money and 13 staff.
Busby’s director and shareholders blamed a downturn in the custom home building market for the company’s demise.
The company’s website and Facebook page has been removed while calls to its head office go to a full voicemail inbox.
Will said Busby began work on his Banyule Rd family home in June.
The father-of-two found out about the company’s collapse from another customer on January 26, and then received an email from insolvency and business recovery practice Jirsch Sutherland three days later.
Will claimed workers had installed the wrong windows and left holes in the walls, even though Busby had assured him of their reputation, quality of builds and stability.
“Even during contract negotiations they said they were a premium company, they’re not going to disband halfway through the build,” he said.
“To be left with a lot to fix with no notification is really disappointing.”
Four other Busby customers had homes in the final stages of handover and five had signed contracts for yet-to-begin projects.
Will said he and his family would have to extend their stay in a Rosanna rental property while they wait for the outcome of an insurance claim.
“That’s going to cost a couple a grand a month in rent and come back to bite us,” he said.
“There’s a couple of people who have paid deposits who are not going to get anything for it.
“Everyone else I have spoken to is feeling quite hurt and shocked; they didn’t think this was going to be happening.”
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Liquidator Glenn Crisp, on behalf of Jirsch Sutherland, said they had “taken numerous calls from customers and are providing the best advice we can to get their homes to completion stage”.
He said a project manager had also been offered to assist with identifying defects and completing repairs.
Mr Crisp advised affected customers to lodge compensation claims with the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority if they were eligible.