A South Australian residential construction company has gone bust, leaving 20 homes unfinished and more than 80 creditors with significant unpaid bills.
Adelaide Designer Homes has entered liquidation, which is being handled by Anna Agostino of insolvency firm Clifton Hall.
“We wrote to the owners (on Thursday) and basically gave them back the land, telling them the company cannot continue,” Ms Agostino said. 9News.
One company employee said he should have jumped ship earlier because he had run out of money and the company had been experiencing financial difficulties for some time.
“With a name like Adelaide Designer Homes, you’d think that’s what you’re going to get… that maybe it’ll get better, or maybe we can figure this out or maybe it’s a setback, but that’s not the case,” he said.
Ms Agostino said rising material and labour costs meant the company was unable to fulfil the fixed-price contracts it entered into before Covid.
He added that he is investigating whether the company should have closed earlier.
“We will investigate whether they did so in a timely manner or not, but they have fulfilled that obligation.”
South African luxury homebuilder Adelaide Designer Homes has entered liquidation
This week, around 20 unfinished works were returned to paying clients.
The luxury homebuilder previously won the HIA-CSR Housing Award for Best Bathroom in South Africa and another for Best Steel Structure Project in South Africa.
Some creditors have alleged that the company was taking on more contracts than its resources could complete before collapsing.
Nearly 3,000 construction companies have gone bankrupt in Australia over the past year, according to data from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
This figure represents an increase of approximately 28 percent compared to the previous year.
Adelaide Designer Homes has been contacted for comment.