Elderton Homes administration leaves homebuilders, Kelly Sharples, with half-built home

A family’s dream home continues to sit half finished after a construction company went bankrupt.

Kelly and Tony Sharples started building their dream in Kembla Grange, south of Sydney in mid-2021 and were told it would be finished in December the following year, just in time for Christmas.

But when they went to check on the property right before its expected completion date they found an A4 sheet of paper taped to their front door explaining their builder Elderton Homes had filed for bankruptcy.

Although the main structure of the home has been erected, many of the rooms inside remain incomplete, with loose tiles not yet secured

Carpet has been installed in the family’s home but the plumbing is still a work in progress, with some fittings also yet to be properly installed

Although the main structure of the home has been erected, many of the rooms inside remain incomplete.

The bathroom’s tiles were yet to be completed and cabinets also waiting to be properly fitted.

Carpet has been installed in the family’s home but the plumbing is still a work in progress.

Elderton Homes entered voluntary administration on December 12, leaving a long list of clients in the lurch.

The boutique builder said the ‘difficult decision was the result of a number of factors’ citing bushfires and floods, the Covid pandemic and the economic downturn.

‘The construction industry has been subject to record levels of rainfall, substantial price increases on building materials, supply chain challenges and labour shortages,’ Elderton’s management said in a statement.

The Sharples say they’ve been given little information about what will happen to their half-finished home and been met with ‘every excuse under the sun’ why it is yet to be completed.

‘Obviously we’ve had quite a bit of wet weather, but there were houses around us being built in the same conditions and were getting finished,’ Mr Sharples told the Illawarra Mercury. 

‘We were the last one left.’ 

Now the couple with three kids are at the mercy of Elderton Homes administrator O’Brien Palmer, who in January released a report detailing the company’s dire state.

The couple with three kids are at the mercy of Elderton Homes administrator O’Brien Palmer, who in January released a report detailing the company’s dire state

At the time the firm entered administration they had 75 homes at various points of construction across Greater Sydney, the Central Coast and the Illawarra region

At the time the firm entered administration they had 75 homes at various points of construction across Greater Sydney, the Central Coast and the Illawarra region.

They also had 127 new projects in the pipeline despite administrators saying the company couldn’t pay its debts from June 30 last year.

As a result of the administrator’s findings, Elderton’s owner and director Richard Whitehead could face criminal sanctions.

O’Brien Palmer revealed Mr Whitehead deposited $1.7 million in the accounts of Elderton Homes on December 1, 2021, and the same day paid out $1.706 million, with the description ‘Spec Home and Land’.

‘We have sought information about this payment and are awaiting the receipt of a response,’ the administrators said.

The Sharples now are left waiting for the company to be sent into liquidation, freeing them from their building contract with Elderton Homes, allowing them to lodge a claim under the NSW home building compensation fund and find a new builder.  

 Until a decision is made on Elderton Homes, however, future homeowners are left contractually bound and with no other option but to wait.

Elderton Homes entered voluntary administration on December 12, leaving a long list of clients in the lurch

Elderton Homes also had 127 new projects in the pipeline despite administrators saying the company couldn’t pay its debts from June 30 last year

Voluntary administration results in administrators assessing whether the company can turn their fortunes around and work its way out of financial trouble.

If this is deemed not viable the company will then be put into liquidation.

Elderton Homes are far from the only building company to go bust in the last couple of years.

The building industry’s problems stem from supply chain issues for building materials combined with low stock from national and international sources.

This led to a spike in demand for remaining stock and price rises, with builders bearing the brunt.

Costs of metal ores, plastics, and timber have been consistently rising for years, particularly through Covid lockdowns as factories were forced to shut down for extended periods.

Buildings sites also had to close for weeks or months and this, combined with weather events like bushfires or floods, and have blown out project schedules and pipelines.

Trades have also jumped in cost due to labour shortages and less competition, with a recent Housing Industry Association report finding costs for bricklayers rose by 16.4 per cent, carpenters by 12.5 per cent and painters by 12.2 per cent since 2020.