A grandmother says her family will be homeless by the end of the week because of the collapse of Queensland building company Oracle Homes.
Liquidators estimated 300 home owners in Queensland and New South Wales have unfinished homes.
But industry group Master Builders say those affected should be covered for up to $200,000 from the statutory home warranty insurance scheme.
Kerrie Matthews said her house in the Hunter Valley, in New South Wales, was supposed to be finished in July but it is only half completed despite the family already paying Oracle Homes for 85 per cent of the build.
She said she had sold her current home and were handing over the keys to the new owner on Monday.
"My husband, myself and my daughter, and my three grandchildren – we'll be homeless on Sunday," Ms Matthews said.
"I've cried a river of tears. I'm angry. I can't believe that people can do this to people and get away with it."
Ms Matthews and her husband Paul signed a contract with a completion date of July 26.
She said the company never gave them a new completion date, despite the contract requiring them to provide one within 10 days.
In the weeks before it went into liquidation, Oracle Homes would not return the family's calls, according to Ms Matthews.
"I thought 'you mongrels. You've known this'," she said.
"We've sold our house because Oracle didn't change our date."
The couple live with their adult daughter Melissa, who has a heart condition, as well as three grandchildren and will need to move in with relatives while they search for a new builder.
"My husband can't retire. We thought we were going to own it. We're not going to. It's just wrong."
'You should be covered'
Oracle Building Corporation, which trades as Oracle Platinum Homes and Oracle Hunter Homes, went into liquidation on Wednesday, with 70 staff terminated immediately and no further building works to be undertaken by the company.
In a statement, the liquidators said they understood the total creditor claims may be in the vicinity of $14 million and about 300 home owners potentially affected.
Master Builders Queensland chief executive Paul Bidwell said home owners should be covered for up to $200,000 by the "safety net" of the statutory home warranty insurance scheme.
Mr Bidwell said it would take longer for houses to be completed but there should not be any financial strain.
"When the contract is signed, the insurance premium is paid by the builder and ultimately by the home owner," he told ABC Radio Brisbane.
"But that doesn't mean there's going to be any fun for those home owners during that process.
"In Queensland I'd say that I'm quite confident that there will be some pain but ultimately their houses will be built."
Mr Bidwell said claims could be made through Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC), and new builders would be organised.
"[QBCC] have a panel of builders, specialists who will do this work," he said.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said while it is a "big issue" across the nation, "the majority of our companies are fine".
"There are big issues with building companies across the nation in relation to the rising costs of supplies, that's nothing new," she said.
"I think it's very important that people familiarise themselves with the contracts they're entering into.
"People put all of their life savings into their homes, whether it's new home or upgrading to a home and you know they want to feel safe that that home will be completed."
Ms Palaszczuk said QBCC should be engaging builders "to complete or rectify" impacted homes.
Deputy opposition leader Jarrod Bleijie urged the government to do more to limit "families continually losing money".
"It is no secret that we have had issues with QBCC," he said.
“There's been an inquiry, there's been a review, but nothing seems to be changing."
'You're better off putting your money on a casino table'
Almost two years on from signing a contract with Oracle Homes, Grant Beck said construction had barely begun on his and his wife's home in the Scenic Rim, south of Brisbane.
Mr Beck said they had received two price variation requests to complete their home, totalling more than $100,000 in additional payments, to cover issues including price rises and supply chain disruptions.
The couple agreed to the extra costs, but had not yet paid.
"[When] red flags were going up with Oracle, I started including the Master Builders Association, and the QBCC into the emails to make them aware of the concerns that we were having with them," he told ABC Radio Brisbane.
"If we were not to get anything back from QBCC, we're out of pocket $50,000.
"You've got a better chance of putting your money on a casino table than you do putting it in the construction industry at the moment."
'We just got out'
Mark and Hayley Stephenson were able to get out of their contract just days before the building company collapsed but the financial and personal toll has been "absolutely huge".
The couple decided to demolish and rebuild their home of 15 years and signed a contract with Oracle Homes in late 2020.
Construction had been plagued by delays, supply shortages, price variation requests (which they declined), weather damage, and sporadic works.
Mr Stephenson said he was relieved they were out of the contract before the business went under and have put in a claim with QBCC.
"We can't do anything until the QBCC gives us the go ahead, so we're still really in limbo at the moment but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel," he told ABC Radio Brisbane.
Warning more companies could collapse
A former Oracle worker said the company could have done more to prevent the collapse.
Zack, who did not want to give his last name, said he was an estimator with the company for three years. His job was to calculate the cost of each project
"I know myself I advocated for profit margins to be increased," he told ABC Radio's PM program.
"I could see other builders were raising their prices at the time and we were lowering ours at that same time."
Mr Bidwell said it had been an unpredictable time for builders.
"What we have seen over the last 18 months post COVID is a whole lot of issues ... trying to work out what it's going to cost and how long it's going to take," he said.
"The massive increase in cost because of shipping costs around the globe, or the availability of timber, the availability of trade because across the eastern seaboard there are a number of hailstorms that impacted significantly on roofing."
Mr Bidwell said out of Queensland’s 70,000 licensed contractors, only a small number had been impacted but he expected there would be more.
"There will be others for sure, but we really do not have a sense about what the numbers will look like," he said.
