News that Beechwood Homes has been sold has been cautiously welcomed by the NSW Liberal/Nationals, Shadow Minister for Fair Trading, Catherine Cusack said today.

“While welcome, we again remind the public, the collapse of Beechwood was foreseeable and preventable. Fair Trading failed in their duty to supervise Beechwood’s building licenses and failed to test the financial viability of the business,” Ms Cusack said.

“The collapse has caused unnecessary pain and stress for 1,500 consumers and trade creditors, damaged confidence in our fragile home building industry and revealed deep flaws in our home warranty scheme,” she said.

“The sale is an important turning point but with consumers required to assign contracts to the new builder, there is still more work to be done to ensure their rights so building can resume as quickly as possible.

“360 home building sites abandoned when Beechwood collapsed on 13 May have been exposed to the elements for 11 weeks. Consumers have also incurred huge costs in additional rent, legal advice and securing their sites.

“The insurer Vero must meet these costs, and Fair Trading must supervise these payments to ensure everyone is aware of their obligations and entitlements are fully paid.

“We call on Vero to immediately reassure consumers they will not seek to shirk responsibilities to meet these costs to consumers. (Vero have yet to make a clear statement accepting liability for expenses including rent, legal advice and costs associated with securing and protecting abandoned building sites.)

“Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney also needs to issue clear advice to consumers who will be asked to assign their contracts to the new builders. The process must be fair, especially in relation to price.

“The announcement by the Receiver today omitted to guarantee construction will be completed within the original contract price. This issue needs urgent clarification both for incomplete homes and for those with a security deposit.

“We note the sale price is still unknown. We remain concerned that any returns to unsecured creditors be targeted to tradesmen and building supply companies. We note Mr Larry King and Mrs Pamela King are still pressing their claims as the largest unsecured creditors and stand to benefit personally from the sale today,” Ms Cusack said.

(Full Beechwood timeline on www.catherinecusack.com.au)

Write Comment

Please keep the topic of messages relevant to the subject of the article. Personal verbal attacks will be deleted. Please don't use comments to plug your web site. Such material will be removed.
Name:
E-mail
Title:
Comment:
Code:*
	I wish to be contacted by email regarding additional comments