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The Andrews government is expanding its support to more Victorian home buyers who have been left “out of pocket” due to the collapse of builders.
The Victorian state government has announced it will extend its Porter Davis support scheme to include clients of other collapsed builders who have suffered financial loss due to their builder failing to take out relevant insurance.
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Earlier this year, the Andrews government launched a compensation scheme for the hundreds of families who had discovered that their deposits had been lost due to Porter Davis’ failure to take out domestic building insurance (DBI) on their behalf before it collapsed.
The group, which operated multiple companies in Victoria and Queensland, had more than 2,000 projects in its pipeline at the time of its liquidation.
Eligible Porter Davis Homes customers who paid standard 5 per cent pre-deposit money for “tender agreements”, but received no DBI cover, were given access to payments of up to $50,000.
The first payments to Porter Davis Homes customers under the Labor government’s original customer support payment scheme are expected to be paid in the coming days.
However, the state government has now said that “several hundred additional families” may also be eligible for the one-off support payments if they have also lost deposits due to a building company entering liquidation between 1 July 2022 and 30 June 2023 without taking out mandatory DBI on their behalf.
For example, it flagged that some customers of Snowdon Developments and Hallbury Homes have had similar experiences to Porter Davis customers and could be eligible for refunds.
Refunds for these customers will be paid up to the legal maximum deposit of 5 per cent under the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (but capped at $50,000).
Eligible Porter Davis Homes customers who paid 3 per cent pre-deposit money for “tender agreements”, but received no DBI cover, will also have access to payments of up to $50,000.
The state government has said it will provide guidance on how to make an application in due course, but affected clients are asked to provide details to the state government’s Liquidated Builders Survey.
Speaking of the expansion, acting Assistant Treasurer Tim Pallas commented: “Dreams turned to nightmares for people who should have been protected by their builders, and that’s not acceptable.
“We’ve backed the original Porter Davis families and now other hard-working families who have similarly suffered over the past 12 months will have the certainty and confidence they deserve to move ahead.”
The Andrews government has already announced plans to reform the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995, strengthen domestic building insurance requirements, and introduce a new offence with tougher penalties for builders that request deposits without taking out the required insurance.
[Related: Victorian government compensates Porter Davis collapse victims]
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