Building commissioner fields more than 70 complaints about Perth builder Nicheliving since January 2022
By Herlyn KaurPerth builder Nicheliving has revealed it has 236 homes still to be finished, leaving many people in financial distress as the housing crisis continues to worsen.
Hundreds of Nicheliving customers, who have been waiting more than two years past their scheduled completion dates, have been pleading with regulators and the Commerce Minister Sue Ellery to intervene.
Ms Ellery held a meeting with the builder about two weeks ago and said she struggled to get key information.
But the company says it has provided all the information requested.
Nationals Leader Shane Love has criticised the government for not taking swift action despite being aware of the issue for some time, given there have been 73 official complaints made to the building commissioner since January 2022.
"It's deplorable that this has been allowed to continue," he told ABC Radio Perth.
"This situation is leading to people paying out interest on loans for a house that they can't live in.
"They're paying stamp duty, they're paying rates, they're paying water bills, they're paying all sorts of outgoings on these properties.
"At the same time some of them are living in camper vans and cars. It's just not acceptable."
Ms Ellery confirmed that out of the 73 complaints received, 47 have been actioned, with 28 of those referred to the State Administrative Tribunal and two of them rejected.
A number of customers have told the ABC they feel the current system isn't strong enough and favours the builder.
Mr Love said it's "unacceptable" and there needs to be a review of the regulator's powers with a potential overhaul of the system.
"I think sometimes regulators get captured by their close relationship with industry," he said.
"Perhaps that's what's happened here, but we certainly need to look at the way that this has unfolded to make changes so this never happens again."
In a statement, a spokesperson from Nicheliving told the ABC it has discussed with the Ms Ellery the proactive measures it's taking to speed up the completion of homes.
These include partnering with other builders to increase construction capability and establishing a dedicated project team focused on finding ways to fast-track builds.
"We have completed 19 homes in the last two weeks, with approximately 80 further homes to be completed within the next 3-6 months.
"The remaining 156 are at pre-lockup stage and have been prioritised for completion as soon as possible," the company said in a statement.