Simonds Homes emerges as white knight for Porter Davis clients, left in limbo

Simonds Homes has stepped in to finish projects left unfinished by Porter Davis, when the builder went bust. For some families it means they will be in their new homes by Christmas.

More than 100 families left in limbo when home builder Porter Davis collapsed will collect keys within months after Simonds Homes revived their dream projects.

And the construction giant, which is preparing to take on up to 500 unfinished builds, is aiming to get its first Porter Davis customer into their new home before Christmas.

Simonds has shovels in the ground across Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula, as well as Geelong, after getting a tick of approval from the state government’s insurance agency to take on a huge volume of work.

Victims of the Porter Davis collapse in March, which threw the industry into chaos and left 1700 projects in limbo, say they feel like their nightmare is finally ending.

Rafi and Nilufa Hoque, who are building in Tarneit, said they had lost “all trust” in the industry but that Simonds seemed to have a “mission to make things better”.

Porter Davis collapse victims Rafi and Nilufa Hoque get their house back on track with Simonds. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“From the very first day, a supervisor came and explained everything, and they even had a supervisor manager there,” Mr Hoque said.

“It was a nightmare, now it will be the nightmare being over; I hope and I pray that even people I don’t like would not have to go through this.”

Simonds Homes chief executive Rhett Simonds said the look of satisfaction and relief on people’s faces when they saw frames go up following months of inaction was priceless.

“The social purpose here is to put people in houses and when you can do that for people who have been through such a difficult journey, it’s so rewarding,” he said.

Mr Simonds said the company had effectively opened its books to the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority to show it could take on so much extra work, and has recently returned to profit after riding out the industry storm that gripped Australia over the past year.

The process also showed it could better leverage its commercial structure to offer “premium-designed” homes at competitive prices.

Mr Simonds, whose grandfather Gary started the company 70 years ago, said about 200 former Porter Davis customers had signed on so far, with an extra 200 expected to join them early next year.

He also said there were signs in the sector that labour and material shortages were easing after a pandemic-related bottleneck moved through the industry.

“Whilst the industry still faces a number of challenges, we are confident about the opportunities ahead for Simonds,” he said.