Company speaks out after Sydney dad’s $700,000 dream build ruined
A Sydney dad was left shocked after he saw the family dream home he had sunk $700,000 in.
He says he has been left with a bizarre “half-house” that is the result of poor communication on behalf of the building company that was employed to build his dream home.
Nepalese man Bishnu Aryal saved $398,950 to purchase a block of land in Edmondson Park where he planned to build the home of his dreams for his family.
Mr Aryal employed Zac Homes for a custom off-plan build worth $322,400 in 2016 and let the business get to work, saying he “trusted the process”.
However, after checking on the house three years later he told A Current Affair he “nearly fainted” after discovering his freestanding build had been turned into a duplex.
“Where’s my house? I want the rest of my house. It’s not a freestanding house, it’s not a duplex, it’s half a house. And it looks embarrassing,” he told the program.
Zac Homes said the build began as a single freestanding home but claimed it had to be altered to fit with Liverpool Council regulations.
The company claimed Mr Aryal was made aware of the change of plan and even gave him opportunities to pull out of the contract more than once.
However, since the A Current Affair episode went to air on Monday night, Zac Homes has decided to release a statement after being bombarded with one-star reviews.
They said they were taking to Facebook to “provide some context to the dreadful situation”.
“The disagreement that’s causing the holdup is between the certifier and Liverpool City Council and we’re working hard with them both to try and rectify the situation as quickly as possible,” the company said.
“The fact is the owners of the lot next door have failed to proceed with building their home and that’s why the certifier has continued to refuse to issue an Occupation Certificate.”
Mr Aryal was less than impressed with the explanation though and took to Facebook to claim the building company had been giving “false statements” after his story being made public.
“Zac Homes again has given a false statements with the media. This is why I bring this up, their statements has no proof and just making up the imaginary sentences,” he wrote.
Zac Homes went on to say they had “done all we can” by conducting on-site meetings with the certifier, going to the council, and lodging a complaint to Fair Trading NSW.
The building company have also said they’ve waived a fee of $23,000, along with deferring Mr Aryal’s final payment in order to alleviate some of the family’s stress.
“It’s a mess. We know that. Even though this situation hasn’t been caused by us, we are doing what we can to ensure that the right thing is done by Mr Aryal and his family. We feel for them,” the company said.
On Monday night, Mr Aryal explained that his family had been given no choice but to move into the house due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic limiting their options.