Bellamack affordable housing company businessman calls for inquiry into scheme

The businessman said the only way to resolve the furore surrounding the construction of the defective homes was by holding an independent inquiry.

The man whose company built 18 defective homes in Palmerston as part of a government-sponsored affordable housing scheme has called for an independent inquiry into the issue.

Nine of the homes built by George Milatos’s company SAN Industries Pty Ltd in 2012 and 2013 have been demolished while owners of another eight are fighting for compensation over the homes that have been deemed unsafe.

The elevated houses in the suburb of Bellamack were built as part of a joint venture between the NT government and the developer, Bellamack Pty Ltd, which now trades as Territory Life.

Mr Milatos, who has been de-registered, said he had been the subject of targeted personal attacks by NT Consumer Affairs and the NT Building Controller over the project.

One of the homes in Bellamack, Palmerston built as part of a Northern Territory Government affordable housing scheme. Picture: Matt Cunningham

In a letter sent to the NT government, Mr Milatos said the only way to resolve this issue was by holding an independent inquiry.

Special report: Government announces demolition of Bellamack homes

“The contract was completed as per the construction deed, and every house received a certificate of occupancy which, as per the NT Building Control system, is the proof that the construction was inspected by a certifier and that (it) is built as per the approved drawings of permit to meet the Australian standards,” he said in a letter sent this week addressed to his local MLA Mark Monaghan.

George Milatos, the man whose company built 18 defective homes in Palmerston, Darwin as part of a government-sponsored affordable housing scheme, has called for an independent inquiry into the issue. Picture: Helen Orr/News Corp Australia.

Mr Milatos said the inquiry should appoint an independent structural engineer, an architect and a certifier to review how the homes were designed, built and certified.

“The terms of reference to the panel should be strictly to check: are these houses built as per the approved drawings, and if any minor mistakes (have been) made by our local workers engaged on this project, have (they had) any detrimental effect on the integrity of the structure,” he said.

Independent engineers’ reports commissioned by Building Control Services and NT Consumer Affairs last year found the homes did not meet Australian standards and posed serious safety risks to occupants and neighbours.

The Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics has not responded to questions about how the homes obtained certificates of occupancy.

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