{"id":622292,"date":"2026-04-21T22:43:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/622292\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T22:43:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:43:11","slug":"newcastle-homebuyers-push-for-reform-after-off-the-plan-development-leaves-lives-in-limbo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/622292\/","title":{"rendered":"Newcastle homebuyers push for reform after off-the-plan development leaves lives in ‘limbo’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Catherine and Lincoln Chatfield purchased one of five off-the-plan townhouses in the Newcastle suburb of Adamstown in 2021.<\/p>\n

A year later, they were told their home was expected to be built by October 2023, and a month later, they would be able to move in.<\/p>\n

Following that advice, the Chatfields sold their family home in Tamworth and made the move to the coast.<\/p>\n

Five years later, their home remains unfinished.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Catherine Chatfield and her husband, Lincoln, moved to Newcastle looking for a sea change. (ABC Newcastle: Ben Clifford)<\/p>\n

With no firm move-in date in sight, the couple is living in a month-to-month rental, 40 minutes’ drive from the city.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got no pictures on our walls, most of our stuff is in storage \u2026 we won’t go on a holiday,” Ms Chatfield said.<\/p>\n

The couple is one of four households calling for stronger reforms in the off-the-plan housing sector to protect other buyers from facing the same uncertainty.<\/p>\n

‘Conflicting’ communication<\/p>\n

The Adamstown project was marketed as a “refined collection” of five contemporary townhouses with “calm and inviting” features.<\/p>\n

However, buyers have told the ABC that the post-sale process has been anything but.<\/p>\n

Over the past five years, purchasers said they have had to probe for information relating to key development milestones, construction delays and potential move-in dates.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Purchasers say communication about progress and timelines has not been transparent. (ABC Newcastle: Ben Clifford)<\/p>\n

Communications have come through multiple parties, including a selling agent, the developer and the builder, which buyers said often led to “conflicting” advice.<\/p>\n

“We don’t know who’s telling us the truth,” Ms Chatfield said.<\/p>\n

“[We’re told] you’ll be in by June, oh no, you’ll be in by Christmas.”<\/p>\n

“To keep getting it so wrong baffles me.”<\/p>\n

In a statement, selling agent Kapalua Advisory said it understood the frustrations relating to communication.<\/p>\n

“Timelines provided to us by the builder and developer were consistently missed, despite our best efforts,” director Richard Stanton said.<\/p>\n

“The information we communicated could only ever be as accurate as what we were given.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The homes appear mostly finished, but a dispute between the builder and developer has caused further delays. (ABC Newcastle: Ben Clifford)<\/p>\n

The houses appear to be majority built, but a dispute between the builder and developer over the driveway has seen work grind to a halt.<\/p>\n

“As soon as we have that driveway matter sorted out, the purchasers can have their home back,” builder Adam Bahrami said.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Bailey Street Developments said the driveway works could be completed in four to six weeks once they gained “possession” of the site.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Having lived in temporary accommodation since 2023, Tammie Roy tells people she basically lives in her car. (ABC Newcastle: Ben Clifford)<\/p>\n

Tammie Roy purchased a home in the same development in 2021.<\/p>\n

Since moving to Newcastle in 2023, Ms Roy has lived in a mix of rentals, shared houses, and temporary accommodation while she waits for her home to be built.<\/p>\n

Ms Roy tells people she “lives in her car”.<\/p>\n

“It’s just me and my suitcases” she said.<\/p>\n

A number of buyers, including Ms Roy, had sought legal advice to see if they could move the project forward, but had been told there was little they could do.<\/p>\n

“My conveyancer said I don’t really have any recourse,” she said.<\/p>\n

“[They said] your contract is your contract, it’s off the plan, that’s how they work.<\/p>\n

“There should be some time limit or some way for us to push so that it gets finished in a reasonable amount of time.”<\/p>\n

Dangers of off-the-plan<\/p>\n

Richard Harvey is a solicitor and accredited specialist in property law.<\/p>\n

He said off-the-plan projects came with inherent risks as purchasers were buying “a concept” or a design, rather than an existing building.<\/p>\n

“It is always a dangerous thing when buying off the plan,” he said.<\/p>\n

“What you end up getting may or may not be exactly what you thought you were going to get.”<\/p>\n

\"Design<\/p>\n

Developers must provide buyers with a draft plan prepared by a surveyor and a schedule of finishes. (ABC Newcastle: Ross McLoughlin)<\/p>\n

Following reforms in 2019, developers must provide purchasers with a disclosure agreement outlining project plans and a schedule of finishes, but that does not stop timelines from blowing out.<\/p>\n

Equity concerns<\/p>\n

In 2015, the New South Wales government introduced reforms to sunset clauses<\/a>, making it illegal for developers to rescind an off-the-plan contract, without Supreme Court intervention, if the project was not completed by a nominated date.<\/p>\n

As a result, the buyers have the option to exit their contract.<\/p>\n

However, with the median house price in Adamstown surging by more than 45 per cent since contracts were signed, the buyers said they could not afford to walk away.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Sylvain Della Libera says he and his wife cannot afford to buy in Adamstown if they walk away from the project. (ABC Newcastle: Ben Clifford)<\/p>\n

“We are locked out of the market because the price we got for that property five years ago is not the same price now,” said purchaser Sylvain Della Libera.<\/p>\n

“If we lose that house, we lose our dream.”<\/p>\n

By walking away, purchasers also faced losing the equity they had built over the past five years.<\/p>\n

“If the project is not delivered, they should bring back the equity that has been built and refund the people,” Mr Della Libera said.<\/p>\n

Further reforms<\/p>\n

The buyers have called on the state government to introduce penalties for projects that do not meet stated construction timelines.<\/p>\n

“What should be happening is we should have a way to enforce a penalty on this delivery and [avoid] a massive delay like we are seeing right now,” Mr Della Libera said.<\/p>\n

With the popularity of off-the-plan contracts on the rise, the NSW government has been reviewing laws surrounding off-the-plan contracts.<\/p>\n

In 2025, the community was asked to provide feedback on a range of potential reforms, including the introduction of penalties.<\/p>\n

The ABC understands the consultation process is still ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Catherine and Lincoln Chatfield purchased one of five off-the-plan townhouses in the Newcastle suburb of Adamstown in 2021.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622293,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[301605,64,63,99,11758,7688,178437,301604,127849,28313,46075,301606],"class_list":["post-622292","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-adamstown","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-construction","tag-housing","tag-limbo","tag-off-plan","tag-off-the-plan","tag-protections","tag-reforms","tag-townhouse-delays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622292","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622292"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622292\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622293"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622292"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622292"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622292"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}