Perth family’s house plans dealt double blow as builder goes bust – twice

A Perth family’s quest to build a home has been thwarted by the dramatic collapse of not one but two residential construction companies.

In 2021, Cara Godwin and her husband Jason employed Modco Residential – the building company helmed by glamour couple Yusuf Khan and Cynthia Lu who left behind a trail of shattered hopes, unpaid bills, and unanswered questions when the empire crumbled.

Cara and Jason Godwin with their two children Sage (2) and Summer (8 months) on their family home building site in Doubleview.Credit: Ross Swanborough

Modco Residential was launched in August 2020 – in the middle of the pandemic and subsequent building boom – with a promise of cost-effective, architecturally designed homes and a guaranteed 20-week build time.

In 2022, pre-liquidation, a Modco spokeswoman attributed delays with jobs to material and labour shortages, rising costs and the challenges of navigating and building a start-up company.

The company entered administration in July 2023 and was later put into liquidation. This month, liquidators revealed Modco faced nearly $9 million in creditor claims and regulatory bodies were also pursuing disciplinary action.

Godwin said after the company collapsed she and her husband decided to cut their losses and put up their three-lot Doubleview subdivision for sale to avoid haemorrhaging even more money on land tax, rates and mortgage repayments.

The couple then spent the next six months unsuccessfully trying to buy an established property.

“Unfortunately along with the other thousands of people looking, we were unable to find anything,” Godwin said.

“We decided to build on the [third, unsold] block, so at least we knew in a year we would have a house.”

The couple then signed in February 2024 with Ultimo Constructions, one of WA’s best boutique builders and five-time winner of the HIA Australian Professional Small Builder of the Year award.

They were told the house would be built within nine months.

Cynthia Lu and Yusuf Khan at the launch of Modco Residential.Credit: Facebook

Fast forward a year – and through what Godwin describes as “many delays, money wasted, numerous emails and calls” – and all they have is a concrete slab.

“We found out from the internet that Ultimo had gone into liquidation,” she said.

“No calls, no emails, no information. Just left to fend for ourselves again.”

Godwin said they were in the process of getting builders’ insurance paid through QBE; however, out of 15 builders contacted, none were interested in finishing the job that would now cost significantly more than initially projected.

“It’s been four years,” Godwin said.

“So much wasted money, court cases, so many tears and so much stress, and we are in no better position than when we started.

“We got married and had two children in this time ... but still no house.”

Meanwhile, they are dealing with spiralling rental costs to keep a roof over their heads on top of the costs associated with the two building disasters.

Ultimo blamed its collapse last month on financial losses from fixed-price contracts, and insurance limitations put in place by insurer QBE following the collapse of other builders like NicheLiving.

With West Australians facing similar struggles with construction projects stalled or abandoned, the state’s housing crisis continues to deepen.

A recent analysis by the Property Council of Australia concluded the west was falling significantly behind its National Housing Accord target, with a shortfall of nearly 1500 dwellings.

New Australian Bureau of Statistics data, released April 16, paints a troubling picture of the state’s inability to meet growing demand for affordable housing.

Just over 5700 homes were built across the state in the 2024 December quarter, with 11,535 homes built in WA in the first six months of the Accord target’s reporting period, which began last July.

In one encouraging sign, the state is on track to lift its year-on-year completions by nearly 5000 homes, with 32 per cent more homes built than this time last year.

But Property Council WA executive director Nicola Brischetto said it wasn’t enough.

“High demand for housing is unlikely to slow in the near future,” she said.

“While we are on track to build more homes this financial year than last year, if we don’t continue to lift the rate of home completions, we risk seeing another sharp increase in prices, placing home ownership even further out of reach.”

The rise of shoddy builds is another concern. Between 2020 and 2024, the number of complaints in WA accelerated from 771 to 1107.

Building and Energy data revealed there were 542 active complaints over sub-par homes, taking on average 208 days to close.

Most related to doors and door frames, breach of contract, and tiling.

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