Ex-builder Nicheliving denies stealing materials from half-built houses

Nicheliving has denied allegations from former customers that it is stealing items from unfinished homes as owners finally received the keys to their half-built properties this week.

At least three people have accused the deregistered builder of removing items from their houses, including an oven, an air conditioning unit and rendering materials.

Sarah Azziz said her air conditioning unit had been cut from its piping and removed from her house.

Nicheliving relinquished its building licence earlier this month in exchange for the state government picking up the bill to finish off around 200 houses.

Its contracts were terminated, however frustrated customers – some who have been waiting five years for their homes to be finished – have since realised some building materials had been removed from their sites.

Tracey Bishop told ABC Perth she arrived at her Orelia house on Monday to find tradespeople attempting to remove rendering materials from her garage.

She also claimed her kitchen and bathroom tiles – that she had already paid for, and which had earlier been delivered to the site – were gone.

“I said, ‘Why are you taking our stuff? That’s for our rendering to finish off our house’,” she said.

Bishop recorded the exchange with the tradesmen, who could be heard saying, “Who do you think you f---ing think you are?“, before Bishop explained she owned the house.

The tradesman then calls her a “Karen in the wild” before another gets on the phone to his boss to explain the owner thinks the cement in the garage is “hers apparently, not ours”.

Another Nicheliving customer, Abhishek Binani, said the builder took his oven from inside his Willetton house, which was at lock-up stage. When he emailed to complain, the oven was returned the following day.

“We have dealt emotionally, financially for the last two years with them, I just hope that it comes to an end pretty soon for everyone else and myself,” he said.

Another customer, Sarah Azziz, claimed Nicheliving took her air conditioning unit.

“I was checking on my house … and it appears somebody came in from the front, went all the way to the back and then cut off my air con and took the unit and removed it,” she told ABC Radio.

She said Nicheliving told her they took the air conditioner because she had missed a payment, which she was not aware of.

Owners who have terminated their contracts with Nicheliving can now begin the process of finding a new builder to complete their homes, with costs to be covered by the state government.

A Nicheliving spokeswoman said the company had not been stealing from unfinished homes.

“We have Nicheliving team members on site de-mobilising the sites as we hand over the homes to the customers,” she said.

WA Premier Roger Cook said the claims were being investigated, and if any criminality was found, the matter would be referred to police.

It is not clear whether Nicheliving was entitled to take the materials from the work sites.

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