Yahoo Lifestyle Homeowner in disbelief after paying $700k for 'half a house'
A Sydney homeowner says he is in complete disbelief after claiming he paid $700,000 for a home and only received half of it.
Father of two Bishnu Aryal says he purchased land and a home in Edmondson Park in Sydney's southwest, thinking after the builders were done he would get a free-standing home.
Instead, after pouring in 10 years' worth of savings, he ended up with what looks more like half a home.
"It's not a free-standing house, it's not a duplex, it's half a house. And it looks embarrassing," the father told Channel Nine's A Current Affair.
He explained he was promised the home would be built in one year, but he ended up waiting for three.
Mr Aryal did not oversee the building process, but he says the final result is not what he expected.
"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 said.
Zac Homes, the company contracted to build Mr Aryal's home, told A Current Affair the local council said the home needed to be an attached dwelling.
The company claims Mr Aryal was made aware of this several times, whereas Mr Aryal said he decided to "trust the process".
When the bank asked to see the plans, Mr Aryal asked Zac Homes for the plans. He passed them on to the banks and admitted to A Current Affair he did not look at the plans, which were for half a duplex.
Now, Mr Aryal is living in the home without an Occupation Certificate, something Zac Homes have reportedly been trying to get signed for nine months.
Mr Aryal says he needed to move into the half-home as his family had nowhere else to live, his wife was pregnant and he was losing work.
Zac Homes says client was aware of changed design
In a letter to A Current Affair, Zac Homes maintained Mr Aryal was made aware of his home's redesign and had an opportunity to get out of the agreement after the plans were amended.
The company said this was evidenced by Mr and Mrs Aryal's attempt to negotiate a discount, intention to onsell the lot, the restriction being registered and a copy of the plans being provided to them.
It said the clients becoming aware of the changed design had the right to rescind the land contract, but they chose not to after securing a $20,000 discount. Zac Homes said the certifier either invalidly issued the Construction Certificate, or has invalidly refused to issue the Occupation Certificate.
"Zac Homes appreciates the frustrations of Mr & Mrs Aryal surrounding the delay in the issue of the Occupation Certificate, these delays are not caused by Zac Homes," it said in the statement.
Zac Homes also said it had agreed to defer payment of its final progress claim from Mr and Mrs Aryal pending issue of the Occupation Certificate, and waive a contract price increase of $22,733.20 permitted under the Building Agreement.
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