Another home builder has signed on to complete close to 400 unfinished Porter Davis properties.
Liquidators Grant Thornton on Monday confirmed Nostra Property Group had entered into a sales agreement for Porter Davis’ multiple dwelling business.
Nostra will complete up to 375 town houses, 169 of which haven’t been started yet, as well as offer ongoing employment to 16 Porter Davis staff.
The parties had been able to preserve jobs and minimise disruption for existing and future builds, Grant Thornton liquidator Said Jahani said.
“All parties worked tirelessly to achieve a positive outcome in an extremely short period of time,” Mr Jahani said in a statement.
“Critically, up to 375 homes [will be] built for families who have had to suffer enormous stress and anxiety following the collapse of the PDH Group.”
Nostra Property Group founder and managing director Anthony Caruana said it was a natural fit for his business.
“We will work towards not only completing the existing partially built homes in this portfolio but also those projects yet to commence,” he said in a statement.
“This will ensure we can provide much needed certainty to the families who have purchased a PDH designed townhouse and they can once again look forward to having a new place to call home.”
Dozens of Porter Davis customers rallied on the steps of Victoria’s parliament on Sunday, calling for more support from the government.
Many say they need financial and legal assistance to help navigate their next steps, get their deposits back and gain access to plans.
Victoria’s Deputy Premier, Jacinta Allan, said the government was still assessing what it could do to help affected customers.
“When there’s further detail to announce, we will make those announcements,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne on Monday.
About 1700 homes across Victoria and Queensland were left in limbo when Porter Davis – which had been Australia’s 12th largest builder – went into liquidation in March.
A further 780 customers had signed contracts but their builds had not started.
Porter Davis had nearly 470 workers and had forecast revenue of $555 million in the 2023 financial year.
The liquidators said rising input costs, supply chain delays, labour shortages and dropping demand contributed to the company’s collapse.
-with AAP
