Young family lose life savings after Hotondo Homes New Town goes bust

Roxy and Lachlan Goss lost their block of land and their entire life savings after sinking $260,000 into Hotondo Homes New Town before the company went bust. THEIR STORY >>

A desolate Hotondo Homes construction site now stands where one couple once dreamt of building a family home to raise their two young toddlers.

Roxy and Lachlan Goss lost their block of land and their entire life savings after sinking $260,000 into Hotondo Homes New Town before the company went bust.

Lachlan, 29, is now working two jobs in order to support the family after having everything taken from them.

“It’s depressing. I’m just trying to stay strong for my family. I’m the rock, so I’ve got to be as strong as possible for them,” Mr Goss said.

“Mentally it’s tough. It’s tough because we’ve sacrificed so much and put a lot into this project, and to lose it all is damaging.”

Hotondo heartache

Roxy, 27, met with Hobart director Craig Ellis, who said they could have their dream home in Granton up and built by June 2021.

However Roxy said those plans kept on being delayed again and again, while Mr Ellis kept on asking for more and more money upfront.

“We paid 10k, then he asked for more 10k, and then more, and it came to the point where we sold our block in Lenah Valley and paid him $216k, but still nothing happened,” she said.

“Once he got this money we did not see him again, as he was in Noosa with his other business.”

Roxy is still dealing with the fallout while studying a Masters of Teaching and looking after 3-year-old Ry and 15-month-old Nya.

Had the house been built according to schedule, Nya would have been born into a new family home.

Roxy said this had taken a significant toll on the family emotionally, and that she was still at her wits’ end trying to find answers for what to do next.

“Having it all collapse at the end and having no answers, it’s really, really disheartening,” she said.

“This was supposed to be something really special for our family.”

Half completed Hotondo Home in Kingston after Hotondo goes into receivership. Photo: Linda Higginson

Another young mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she too had lost her entire life savings to Hotondo Homes.

She is currently living with in-laws after being asked to put her entire $15,000 savings into a deposit two weeks before Christmas by a Hotondo Homes salesperson.

Shortly afterwards she heard rumours that the Hotondo Homes Hobart was due for imminent closure, so she made an inquiry into the local branch.

“I said ‘I’ve heard this rumour, is this true?’ and they told me ‘not to fret’. I haven’t heard anything from them since. Their phone is disconnected,” she said.

She and her partner now have an empty plot of land and virtually no money left to raise their two-month-old baby.

Another distraught customer Peter, who did not wish to have his last name published, sunk over $30,000 into his Hotondo Homes deposit.

Peter said he had spent the last few weeks demanding answers from the local and national Hotondo Homes branches to no avail.

Half completed Hotondo Home in Kingston after Hotondo goes into receivership. Photo: Linda Higginson

He said they were “elusive” to begin with, offering only vague answers to his inquiries, but now they were ignoring his inquiries altogether.

“I’m sending daily emails to them and they’re not answering any of them. They’ve basically washed their hands, saying it’s a franchise and nothing to do with us,” he said.

“While they might not have a legal obligation, surely they’ve got a moral obligation to support those clients.”

Peter said the Hobart branch owner Craig Ellis was no longer answering his calls, either.

“I spoke to Craig five weeks ago by phone and he reassured me that everything was on track and that he’d make sure our home was started in the New Year,” Peter said.

“He must have known [the company would be liquidated] by that stage. I can’t imagine otherwise.”

The Mercury has also repeatedly reached out to Craig Ellis, but has not received an answer.

The Mercury contacted Jarvis Archer, the liquidator, for comment.