Two more half-houses have been found in the same Sydney suburb where a young family have been left distraught by the final result of their dream home.
Mortgage broker Bishnu Aryal made headlines this week when he admitted to forking out more than $700,000 for his dream home to be built – but instead ended up with half a duplex due to a communication bungle with construction company ZAC Homes.
One side of the house is a grey and windowless wall where the other half of the building looks like it should be.
As the father-of-two’s predicament continues to divide the internet, two similar half- homes have been spotted in a street parallel to Mr Aryal’s home in Edmondson Park in Sydney’s south-west.
Bishnu Aryal (pictured) end up with ‘half a house’ after forking out more than $700,000 for his dream home in Sydney’s south-west
Two more half-houses (one pictured) have been spotted in the street parallel to where Mr Aryal lives in Edmondson Park
One looks very similar to Mr Aryal’s half-duplex with a windowless wall facing an vacant lot.
The other a few doors down on Changsha Road is less noticeable as it’s next to a freestanding home on the adjacent block.
It’s unclear whether Zac Homes also built the other two ‘half houses’.
A Google street view image taken five months ago shows a ute emblazoned with Zac Homes’ logo parked outside one of the other half-houses.
Another Google street view shows company signage on the lot near the other half- house.
Neither homes appeared to be lived in, despite neighbours telling news.com.au they were built months ago.
‘You would have thought they were going to build the other half of the house, but instead they just fill it in with like, an ordinary house, which seems really unusual,’ a neighbour said.
‘I’m assuming it’s done by some garbage builder.’
A Google street view from five months ago shows a ZAC Homes vehicle parked in front of one of the two half-houses in Changsha Road
Another street view shows ZAC Homes signage (circled in red) near the lot of the other half-house
Mr Aryal moved to Australia from Nepal for a new life and saved for 10 years to buy a lot in Edmondson Park for $398,000.
He signed a building agreement with construction company Zac Homes in 2016 for a custom off-plan build, which set him back a further $322,000.
The agreement was for a free-standing home but, three years later, Mr Aryal was horrified when he checked the progress and realised contractors had built a duplex on half the block – with a huge windowless grey wall erected down the middle.
Rather than having another building attached to the side, like with a regular duplex, the lot sits empty – giving the Aryal family home an unfinished look, with stunned passersby even stopping to take pictures of it.
‘I called the supervisor and asked him what’s going on, why is the house like this? And he said ‘it’s a duplex, semi-duplex’, and I nearly fainted that day,’ Mr Aryal told A Current Affair on Monday night.
‘Where’s my house?’ he ‘I want the rest of my house.’
‘It’s not a free-standing house, it’s not a duplex, it’s half a house. And it looks embarrassing.’
Bishnu Aryal and his wife (pictured). Mr Aryal moved to Australia from Nepal for a new life
Mr Aryal’s home standing among a range of free-standing homes. He says he did not know the building plans changed
Mr Aryal said although his English isn’t perfect, he definitely did not sign up to have half a house.
Zac Homes told A Current Affair the the plan when construction began was to build a free-standing home on the block, but claimed Liverpool Council later said Mr Aryal’s block had to be an attached dwelling.
The construction company also said he had multiple opportunities to pull out of the agreement.
But Mr Aryal claimed he trusted the process and did not look at the new plans for half a duplex when they were sent over, and instead forwarded them to the bank.
Neighbour Muhammad described the home as a ‘pretty ugly’.
‘A lot of people are always taking photos on the street. They think it looks pretty ugly.’
Mr Aryal had to move in during Covid because his wife was pregnant and they had nowhere to go after he began losing work, but says he’s been waiting nine months for an occupation certificate – which authorises the use of a new building.
Mr Aryal now wants to raise awareness so no other home owner has their dreams shattered.
‘There’s been a lot of emails, messages and calls with sympathy and empathy in the last few days,’ he told news.com.au.
‘But nobody has been able to help.’
The building company behind a bungled duplex have taken to social media refusing to take responsibility and blaming Liverpool council for the situation – despite Mr Aryal being left with ‘half a house’
ZAC Homes addressed the situation through their Facebook page on Tuesday, saying the situation ‘hasn’t been caused by us’ and blaming Liverpool City Council.
‘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,’ the building company said.
They also say they’ve waived a large fee for Mr Aryal as an offering of good faith.
‘We’ve done all we can. We are conducting on-site meetings with the Certifier, making representations to Council, and we’ve lodged a complaint to Fair Trading NSW,’ ZAC Homes added.
‘To help alleviate some of their stress we’re deferring the final payment and we’ve waived a fee of 23 thousand dollars.’
‘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.’
Mr Aryal now wants to raise awareness so no other home owner has their dreams shattered. Pictured is what was supposed to be his dream family home