Hallbury Homes Home Builder Collapse Abandons Clients: Terry Condon

Six years after they broke ground on their dream home, an Australian couple’s life has turned into a “nightmare” as the art deco home remains unfinished, $150,000 over budget and riddled with problems.

Landscape designer Terry Condon commissioned developer Hallbury Homes to work on the project in 2017, with the home in Harkaway, a south-east Melbourne suburb, due for completion in 2020.

There were major issues from the start and now the couple have no idea if their half-built house will ever be finished.

Hallbury Homes filed for bankruptcy Jan. 4 after owing creditors around $7 million and abandoning a string of desperate customers like the Condons.

“It was my dream,” Mr Conder told the Daily Mail Australia. “I designed it with my wife and it was a nightmare.”

During an inspection in 2020, before Mr Conder’s home was originally due to be handed over, he noticed green mold on the floor

“I went out there and sat there for an hour and I was like, ‘What am I going to do?’.”

“My wife had a breakdown about a year ago because of it.

“She couldn’t go near the place, couldn’t drive past, got the shakes, had to take time off work.”

The firm’s administrator, Michael Capaney of Menzies Advisory, said the firm was working at 42 locations on 52 projects when it collapsed with 20 employees affected.

Cost overruns in 2022 led to carnage in the construction industry, with big names like Probuild, FIRM, Condev Construction, Pivotal Homes, Waterford Homes, New Sensation Homes, Oracle and Privium all going under.

Experts warn that the trend will continue in 2023 as the industry is still plagued by runaway inflation and material and labor shortages due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing post-Covid supply chain collapses.

Terry Conder filmed water damage at his home built by Hallbury Homes

Mr. Conder and the builders were arguing about whether it was “wood stains” or mold

During an inspection in 2020, before Mr Conder’s home was originally due to be handed over, he noticed green mold on the floor.

He said within a week it was “black and furry.”

“I said to them, ‘That’s actually mold growing everywhere,'” said Mr. Conder.

“The superintendent said it was wood stain.

“Then we had three inspections done, which found it was mold.

“Reports said the house was covered in mold. It was absolutely rotten within the walls.”

A show home built by Hallbury Homes which becomes the first major developer to go into liquidation for 2023

That was just the beginning of problems with the house.

“We weren’t picky and said ‘here’s a scratch’ or this or that,” said Mr. Conder.

“We’re talking about important things that went wrong.”

The home was not built to the specified height, he claims, because the 11 load-bearing brick piers that support the home do not conform to building standards.

Two bathrooms were also not fitted properly and both need to be ripped out.

“There are walls that are all crooked, doors that don’t slide properly,” said Mr. Conder.

“Also countertops need to be ripped out, LED lights have been put in the wrong place, wrong and mismatched colors everywhere.”

Mr Conder claimed the builder placed a heater under the house to dry out water damage

A door under the house that has been replaced nine times.

Mr. Conder and his wife have been renting since 2017.

He had hoped to move into the new house with his mother and father-in-law two and a half years ago.

Now the two aging parents probably won’t be able to make the move.

“I’ve slept on a mattress on the floor for five years,” said Mr. Conder.

All of the white goods and furniture they planned to put in the new home are either piled up in their rental home or in storage, with Mr Conder saying much of it is now “semi-ruined”.

He blames some of the blame on the State Building Inspectorate, which received his and others’ complaints against Hallbury but failed to act.

“There’s no one in Victoria to supervise builders,” he said.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Hallbury Homes for comment.