Melbourne builder goes into administration, pauses work, staff stood down with no pay

Staff have been asked to “hold on” for the next six weeks with no pay as a builder desperately undergoes a restructuring attempt.

EXCLUSIVE

Staff at a building firm which went into voluntary administration have been stood down with no pay, news.com.au understands.

On Monday, news.com.au reported that Victorian construction firm Langdon Building Pty Ltd had gone into external administration, stopping all work for six weeks and plunging its 115 residential projects into uncertainty.

It appears that staff have been given the choice of being made redundant or standing down without pay for the next six weeks in the hopes that the company can turn its fortune around.

James*, a former employee, who is still in touch with his ex-colleagues, said that Langdon Building staff had “been told they can either be made redundant or hold out for the next six weeks” with no pay.

He claims that when the HomeBuilder grant was introduced in June 2020, Langdon Building increased its sales targets and that many staff members were left feeling “burnt out”.

“I worked for two different companies over the Covid period, one that pushed to sign up as many people as possible to increase revenue and one that was turning away clients and put their prices up early,” James added.

“One still survives and the other has gone into voluntary administration.”

The administrators, Sam Kaso and Shaun Matthews from insolvency firm Cor Cordis, told news.com.au that 43 staff members have been impacted from the collapse.

Of that, 22 have been “temporarily” stood down while a further 21 staff are still working.

Simon Bevan’s building site at the early stages of the construction process.

Langdon Building went into administration on Monday.

Simon Bevan, 47, is anxious about what Langdon Building’s descent into administration means for his nearly-completed home.

“It’s shattering,” he said.

“Now we’re in limbo and we don’t know for how long.”

The dad estimates that his $407,000 build is 98 per cent complete, but frustratingly, he can’t move in and now all work is being paused for the next six weeks at least.

Mr Bevan, his partner and their three kids were planning to move into their new forever home in mid December, but this was then pushed back to February 12.

“Financially it’s draining. Our rent is going up an extra $30 a week,” Mr Bevan added.

“It’s pretty much a full mortgage and full rent.”

Do you know more or have a similar story? Get in touch | [e-mail]

Staff have been given the option to take a redundancy payout or “hold on” for six weeks with no pay.

115 customers have been impacted.

Langdon Building’s eponymous director, Shane Langdon, emphasised that the business has not collapsed, with plans for the company to continue trading after the six-week pause.

He also noted the company is not in liquidation, and there are no plans for it to be.

Construction has been put on “pause” for the next six weeks while administrators work to get things “back on track”.

The company’s financial woes have been blamed on the cost of living crisis, supply chain disruptions and price increases following on from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Langdon Building Pty Ltd is headquartered in Ballarat, west of Melbourne, and has been a registered business since 2005.

On its still active website, it says it “constructs single and double-storey homes including custom designs in Melbourne Metro, Geelong, Ballarat & Bendigo”.

Customers have been told to contact administrators on [e-mail] or [e-mail] with their concerns.

The previous Morrison government’s HomeBuilder grant handed out $2.52 billion to owner-occupiers who wanted to build or substantially renovate a home, turbocharging the sector.

More than 130,000 customers signed on for the program, with many tradies agreeing to the work under fixed-price contracts that soon became unsustainable as prices began to soar.

[e-mail]