Family trying to build flat for autistic daughters caught up in Platinum Homes problems

Thursday, 8 August 2019

A customer of the Platinum Homes franchise that entered liquidation this month has been left wondering whether the granny flat she wants to build for her two autistic daughters will ever be complete.

Mass Construction, which held the license to operate as Platinum Homes in the greater Wellington and Wairarapa region, went into liquidation on Monday.

Its Platinum Homes license has been cancelled.

A year earlier, it was reported that some clients had been waiting since 2016 for work to begin on their construction projects.

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Jennifer Sutcliffe paid a $50,000 deposit for work to start on the flat for her daughters, who will need life-long care.

She said the family had considered a number of builders before settling on Platinum Homes for the project towards the end of last year.

All of the money the family earnt had gone on saving for it, she said. She and her husband had foregone luxuries in order to put money aside.

'We are not a rich family. We have two special needs girls. I said to [owner Jason Strange] 'is your company sound, we can't afford to get caught up in problems' and he looked me in the eye and said 'it's all good'.'

But she said as soon as the deposit was paid, he became hard to get hold of. 

By the start of July this year, work still hadn't started. Sutcliffe said she asked repeatedly for reassurance that the company was not in trouble and, each time, was told it was fine.

When the project finally began, a digger was on the site for two days before it hit a sewer pipe and work had to stop.

Then she found out that the company had gone into liquidation. 

'We heard initially last week from the digger man, he came to our house, looking shattered to get his gear and it was him that told us.

'He said he was down $200,000, that it could put his company at risk. My husband's mum, dad and sister all died of a heart attack, and that night on hearing the news my husband was in ED with chest pain. It was stress from the news.' 

Platinum Homes chief executive Dave Andrew said it would work with all customers to ensure building of their new homes ran smoothly.

'This decision is solely related to our agreement with the licensee for Wellington and Kapiti Coast and does not reflect in any way on Platinum Homes' financial position.'

Other franchises were profitable and not affected, he said.

Sutcliffe said, even if the job could be transferred to a new builder, there would be legal costs to pay and more delays.

The garden looked like a 'bomb site', she said.

'We are devastated at this loss. Every dollar we waste on lawyers and shoddy builders is money taken from our girls that need care.'