Holbrook Homes customers fear builder on brink of collapse as build times blow out

Customers fear that a building company is on the brink of collapse as their construction sites languish and payment defaults mount.

EXCLUSIVE

Customers fear that a building company is on the brink of collapse as their construction sites languish and payment defaults mount while tradies are chasing the business over unpaid debts.

And in a reply-all fail, the building company accidentally sent a response to a customer calling them “nuts”.

News.com.au can reveal that half a dozen homeowners who signed with Melbourne-based custom residential builder Holbrook Homes are calling for an end to their misery, either through the construction firm finishing their builds or going into liquidation.

One customer, Don Jollie, is at the end of his tether, telling news.com.au that Holbrook Homes has tried to bill him twice for incomplete works, making him concerned about how desperate the business is for his money.

He claims the company “ghosted him for months” after he paid the initial deposit but then Holbrook did some work on his site and began hassling him for money before they had finished that stage of building.

“And I’m not talking a little bit incomplete,” Mr Jollie said, explaining “the bank said they’re not paying this, the second floor hasn’t even been started”.

The sole director of Holbrook Homes, Marcel Nassour, denied that the business is on the brink of collapse and told news.com.au the company would fulfil all its contractual obligations to customers. Once current builds finish, the construction firm won’t be taking on any more jobs.

“Once I have finished all my jobs, I must leave the company ‘running’ for the balance of the warranty insurance period. But I will not be doing any building works, just maintaining the insurance requirements,” he said.

The Jollie family are at the end of their tether.

The Jollie family have found issues with their frame.

Their site is covered in rubbish.

Mr Jollie and his wife signed a $479,000 contract with Holbrook in 2022 at a site in Sunbury, on the north west fringes of Melbourne.

The 51-year-old claims word got around among other homeowners and tradesmen that work was happening on his site and as a result people keep dropping by his partially-built house, hoping to talk the director, Mr Nassour, to answer their questions or pay back the company’s debts.

“They’ve all been coming to my house knowing that (the company) has to get it to a stage where I can give them $70,000,” he said.

“Tradespeople are turning up at my block because (the company) owes thousands.”

Mr Jollie refused to make the next progress payment until the defects on his frame were fixed.

In an email intended for engineers, Mr Nassour accidentally emailed Mr Jollie instead.

The email, seen by news.com.au, read “I really need your help please, this client is wanting to ensure his frame is 100 per cent up to scratch before he makes any further payments.

“Clients have driven me to the brink of insanity because they are scared that if they pay me I will take off. These guys are nuts and I just want to pay my bills and move on.”

Now Mr Jollie is particularly concerned after the port-a-loo was removed from his site last month, causing him to fear that work on his home is well and truly over.

Mr Nassour said that Mr Jollie’s frame is now complete and that the progress payment “is due and payable”.

The Holbrook Homes boss added that “Mr Jollie’s toilet will be returned to site”.

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Holbrook Homes customers fear the company is on the brink.

A number of homeowners have expressed their concerns.

Holbrook Homes has been a registered business since 2016.

As well as advertising to new homeowners looking to build their dream home, the company also has a whole section on its website dedicated to picking up projects from liquidated builders.

News.com.au understands the company has at least a dozen customers.

Mr Nassour said managing the Holbrook Homes has been especially tricky after his business partner died of a heart attack last year.

A CreditorWatch report reveals that there are several payment claims involving Holbrook Homes.

In December last year, a concrete company registered a $28,000 payment default over a debt due in September of that year.

Then in February, the same concreting firm went to court and received a judgment for it to be paid back.

Another company obtained a similar default judgment order in March over an unpaid bill of $37,000.

Holbrook Homes said in response “We are paying our bills” but also acknowledged “The industry has been very difficult of late”.

On top of that, in September last year, two customers won a case against Holbrook Homes in the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

The case centred around defects and Holbrook was ordered to pay back $306,000 to the pair of customers.

“This dispute was prior to my time as director,” Mr Nassour said. “I only took over 18 months ago. Holbrook paid the monies owed as per the VCAT order to one customer.”

The site of the Norris family.

The Norris family have been stuck living in temporary accomodation because they were expecting to move into their new home in June last year.

Then there’s Kate and Ryan Norris, 36 and 41, who entered into a contract with Holbrook two years ago for their $352,000 house.

Their four-bedroom, two-bathroom house was sitting at lockup stage for seven months, and it’s now been stuck at the fix-out stage for the past eight months.

“We’re renting temporary accommodation,” Mr Norris said. “We thought worst case scenario June 2023 (was when we would move in). We burned through all our savings to get to that point.”

Ms Norris added: “We were lucky to be getting a very short term rental (otherwise) we were going to be homeless.”

Their port-a-loo was removed from the site, which Holbrook Homes said was because “the toilet was in the way of his concrete so toilet was removed”.

“I used to jimmy the doors to work out if someone had been on site (and I would) put something over the door,” Mr Norris said.

The couple have engaged a lawyer, demanding the work be completed and that they receive liquidated damages, but say they received no response to their legal letter. They also escalated the case to the Domestic Building Dispute Resolution Victoria (DBDRV).

A crack on the site of the Norris home.

Ryan Norris is calling for his build to be finished.

Another customer, Jason*, who preferred to remain anonymous told news.com.au there were “poor communication, delays, excuses right from the start”.

The Melbourne dad of four added: “The last year has been the hardest of my life. The constant feeling of dread and unknowing has taken its toll on my entire family.”

Jason has sought legal advice so that he can cancel his contract.

“It will most likely mean our house will never be completed,” he lamented.

“It is looking more likely that we will need to sell the land and unfinished house as it is and lose out on the $150,000 we have already spent.”

Another homeowner, Gemma*, spoken to on condition of anonymity, said she was also in the process of commencing legal proceedings against Holbrook Homes over delays to her $780,000 build.

“I think everyone is paddling in the same boat – nowhere,” Gemma told news.com.au.

Gemma claims a tradie came over to do work on her home and told her that the building company was in receivership.

Although she had been having trouble getting Holbrook Homes to return her calls, when she emailed them about this she said the company was calling her back “within 30 seconds” and informing her it wasn’t true.

Dan Phyland moved into his home but has encountered a number of defects.

Dan Phyland is battling the builder over the alleged defects.

A patch of mould covered in Mr Phyland’s home.

Customers have also raised concerns about the defects they were left with on their brand new homes.

“My wife was heavily pregnant, we had a wall leak,” one customer, Dan Phyland told news.com.au, adding that this led to “significant mould concerns requiring containment and treatment by a mould specialist”.

Luckily the builder fixed this. But it’s now been 14 months since she moved in and she is battling with Holbrook Homes to have some of the other alleged issues fixed.

An independent building report supplied to news.com.au found a range of defects with his house including items installed outside of manufacturing guidelines, inadequate waterproofing and walls that aren’t straight.

“We are unable to claim via the building insurance for the defective works to be rectified as our policy is not triggered” given the company is still listed, Mr Phyland said.

“Meanwhile, we are having to take legal action to have our home rectified and we incur huge costs for this.”

Mr Nassour said the client “has lost faith. Waiting on her legal team so we can progress the matter”.

*Names withheld over privacy concerns.

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