Despite his well-paid job, Nicheliving customer Richard Hamilton is on the verge of homelessness at the hands of the company he trusted and paid to put a roof over his head.
The Building Services Board deregistered Nicheliving last month, saying it was not confident the company could pay its debts when they fell due.
After signing up with the company in 2020, Mr Hamilton has spent the past four years jumping between rentals and sublets, yet to see the keys to his new home.
Richard Hamilton's home is still months from completion. (ABC News: Grace Burmas)
The deregistration handed Mr Hamilton a lifeline to cut ties with the troubled home builder.
"It opened up the possibility of accessing the [insurance provider] QBE home indemnity insurance, getting another builder in, somebody [who] could actually finish the job properly," he said.
"It was a tremendous relief."
Relief short-lived
But the light at the end of the tunnel was suddenly dulled when the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) stayed the deregistration last week.
The stay order allows Nicheliving to continue operating as if the deregistration never happened, until a full review takes place in November.
The decision put more than 200 customers with unfinished builds in limbo, after already waiting years to get their new homes.
Mr Hamilton was just five days away from successfully terminating his contract.
"I think torture is not exaggerating. It's emotional torture," he said.
"It's not just the financial stress, it's the uncertainty and the inability to trust [Nicheliving] anymore.
"I think it sends entirely the wrong message out about how people, particularly in the building industry, should conduct themselves."
Mr Hamilton is part of a group chat with about 150 Nicheliving customers, including young parents and migrants, all scrambling to make ends meet.
"I could no longer afford to pay my rent and pay my mortgage," he said.
Richard Hamilton described the ordeal as "emotional torture". (ABC News: Grace Burmas)
"Lots of the expenses were things we've been promised by Niche wouldn't be due, such as capital rates and strata fees, but they started coming in."
Government disappointed
Commerce Minister Sue Ellery has previously defended the delay in deregistering Nicheliving, saying the regulator needed to be sure its decision could be defended if challenged.
Speaking on Wednesday, she said the SAT's decision was "disappointing" but acknowledged "we have to work within the rules", saying the government would participate in mediation scheduled for Friday.
Sue Ellery says she was disappointed by the SAT's decision. (ABC News: James Carmody)
"In the meantime, we're looking at what steps government might be able to take to get those homes built," she said.
"We want Niche to cooperate with whatever we're able to come up with to get those homes built.
"I can't give you the detail, because we're still working on what options might be available to us."
While Mr Hamilton waited for his home to be completed, he struck a deal with Nicheliving to rent a derelict home it owned in Dalkeith.
Richard Hamilton had been renting this run-down home while waiting for his own to be finished. (ABC News: Grace Burmas)
"We reached an agreement that they would provide me with this property for a minimal rent until key handover. That was in writing," Mr Hamilton said.
Kicked out
But the company has now sold the property.
Mr Hamilton has 30 days to find somewhere else to live and his home is still months from completion.
It's not the first time the actions of the company have put him in the firing line of homelessness.
The property Mr Hamilton had been renting from Nicheliving was in terrible condition, and has now been sold. (ABC News: Grace Burmas)
"I'm angry, I'm shocked," Mr Hamilton said.
"I never thought I'd find myself in my 50s, with a well-paying job, on the verge of homelessness.
"I don't have a buffer zone because I put all my savings into the deposit for the house."
Ms Ellery said it was "most disappointing" to see Nicheliving selling off some of its assets.
"I'm assuming that they're doing that to show that they do have the financials to meet their obligations," she said.
"Well, if that's the case, they could have done that two years ago and those home owners wouldn't be in the position that they're in now."
Push to finish homes
The Home Builders Action Group, which represents some small and medium builders, said it had sent a proposal to the government to get Nicheliving's homes built sooner by finding a way to get the company to drop its case in the SAT.
The group's chairman Jason Janssen told ABC Radio Perth it was too early to reveal what the details of that solution would look like, but asked the government for a seat at the table.
Jason Janssen wants the unfinished homes to be completed as soon as possible. (ABC News: Tabarak Al Jrood)
"To put a proposal forward for them to hear our intentions, Niche's intentions, to enable the indemnity insurance to be accessed by the clients and to be utilised for what it is there for, to finish off unfinished houses," he said.
"The government effectively required the building industry to push four years' worth of work into the pipeline probably [over] a 12-month period which caused so many delays, so much structural damage to the building industry.
"So realistically I believe the government needs to be partially responsible for their actions with the government grants [and] stimulus that was put out four years ago."
Mr Janssen said there were builders ready to take on the work.
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