Porter remnants picked over
Porter Davis, a Victorian-based home builder, has gone into liquidation.
All Porter Davis projects have been suspended following the latest in a string of construction company collapses in recent times, leaving around 1,700 homes affected across Victoria and Queensland.
Grant Thornton, the appointed liquidator for Porter Davis, is investigating the reasons for the builder's collapse.
A spokesperson for the liquidator has stated that the company ran out of options and attributed the collapse to a challenging environment for residential home building. The spokesperson cited rising input costs, supply chain delays, labour shortages, and a drop in demand for new homes in 2023 as factors that have impacted the group's liquidity.
Construction on all current Porter Davis builds has been suspended, as well as work on around 780 projects under contract where construction was yet to begin.
The liquidator has been contacting potential interested parties willing to take over customer contracts.
Melbourne-based property firm MIG Sons & Co had offered to buy the home builder outright, keeping all staff employed and completing all contracted jobs. However, the liquidator ruled out this offer, stating that they have engaged with dozens of parties interested in the collapsed firm's assets.
Developers including Lendlease, Mirvac, and Stockland have handed over construction of 295 townhouses to Melbourne builder Nostra Property Group following the collapse of Porter Davis Homes.
The transfer of the home builds to privately owned Nostra reduces the exposure of Australia's largest developers to the country's 12th-largest home builder and is a much faster resolution than for Porter Davis' 1,700 individual house buyers, who have to negotiate new contracts individually.
The liquidator has stated that it was simpler to dispose of attached dwellings sold to an end customer off the plan but constructed under a so-called development agreement between an estate developer and builder than to hand over detached house contracts.
Nostra Property Group will take over an initial 50 homes of the 130 homes Lendlease had under development agreement with Porter Davis.
Porter Davis' 1,500 detached home customers in Victoria and 200 in Queensland received repudiation notices tearing up their contracts with the builder.
Customers with insurance under the Victorian Managed Insurance Authority (VMIA) will be able to claim up to 20 per cent of the building cost (up to a maximum of $300,000), but won't be covered for additional legal, finance, and rental costs.
The Queensland home warranty scheme provides cover of up to $200,000.
The liquidator is in advanced discussions with multiple parties in relation to parts of the Porter Davis Group and hopes to be in a position to provide a further update later in the week.