Concerns are mounting that the protracted legal issues with troubled WA builder Niche Living might extend into next year, leaving hundreds of customers in uncertainty. The State Administrative Tribunal has allocated five days in November for hearings, but a final decision remains undetermined.
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00:00From the outside, it looks like a normal suburban home, but the inside tells a different story.
00:09It's obvious that it's moulding up and everything.
00:11Chris is one of the hundreds of Niche Living customers left with an incomplete build, desperate
00:17for answers.
00:18Well, this is supposedly my dream home, which I guess turned into more of a nightmare.
00:26He signed up with Niche Living four years ago, and there's still no end date in sight.
00:31Forced to live with a friend, and start selling his belongings to make ends meet.
00:35I just don't know how this is acceptable and legal.
00:42Four years, the emotional, the mental, the physical, the financial, every aspect, like
00:50I say, of our lives have been impacted.
00:53The Building Services Board deregistered Niche Living in July, saying it wasn't confident
00:57the company could repay its debts.
00:59But Niche Living was granted a stay order by the State Administrative Tribunal, allowing
01:04it to continue operations until a full review in November.
01:08Under the stay order, customers can't access their indemnity insurance, which would have
01:12allowed them to sign on with another builder.
01:15Now they're stuck in limbo, with several customers told a decision may not be forthcoming until
01:21next year.
01:22The indemnity was our answer, and yeah, it's just been traumatic, literally, to have this
01:29green light and see the light and then they just, nope, gone.
01:34And customers aren't the only ones frustrated.
01:37The government and the board oppose the stay application in the Sat, as we believe it's
01:42not in the best interest of the many customers that are still waiting to have their home built.
01:47An unlikely Christmas present for the hundreds of Niche Living customers wanting certainty.