Builder left unbuilt homes and $3.5m of debt, but pursuing him is ‘not economic’

Saturday, 27 June 2026

Midway through last year, Shape Construction went into liquidation leaving several homes partially built, and what would turn out to be more than $3.5m worth of debt.

A complaint against its director Toby Van T Veen remains unresolved more than 18 months since it was laid, while legal action has either failed or been deemed too expensive to pursue.

Van T Veen denies intentionally misleading customers or acting dishonestly, and says: “The liquidation of Shape Construction was a difficult outcome for all parties involved.”

After Shape Construction went bust owing more than $3.5m and left a trail of unbuilt homes, a complaint against director Toby Van T Veen remains unresolved, while legal action has either failed or been deemed too expensive to pursue. Customers say New Zealand needs to better protect its consumers. Jake Kenny reports.

Embracing the use of shipping containers, Shape Construction built custom-made, prefabricated steel homes and baches in remote locations with its “groundbreaking design”, according to promotional material.

By 2020 the company based in Kainga about 15km north of Christchurch had contracts with customers up and down New Zealand. Budding homeowners say they were invigorated by director Toby Van T Veen’s ambition and commitment to deliver their dream projects.

Some customers grew suspicious that the company was struggling financially post-Covid when their builds were delayed, unexpected consenting issues arose, and, they say, communication from sole director and shareholder Van T Veen became sparse at times.

In messages seen by Stuff, Van T Veen assured some families that their projects were on track and the business was stable. A few months later, midway through last year, the company was placed into voluntary liquidation.

The fallout left homes partially built across New Zealand (at least six Stuff is aware of), with active contracts still to be fulfilled, subcontractors and suppliers still to be paid, and thousands of dollars paid in advance for work that was not completed.

Van T Veen, who initially agreed to a sit-down interview with Stuff before having a change of heart, denies intentionally misleading customers or acting dishonestly.

Six couples, including two with young children who were building their forever homes, say they paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in advanced payments for work to be done on their homes that never happened.

They include an Alexandra couple who were seven months pregnant when things began to go pear shaped, a young Christchurch family building their dream home on Mt Pleasant, and a Lyttelton man whose project is at a standstill.

Together, the customers estimate they are millions of dollars out of pocket.

(The final liquidator’s report issued in April noted $3.5m in debts to creditors, with about $50,000 recouped through the sale of assets. Several active building contracts were “disclaimed”. There was also a $267,000 unpaid tax debt).

Some of the customers have called for change to New Zealand’s consumer protection systems, as a complaint against Van T Veen to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) remains unresolved more than 18 months after it was made, while attempts to seek remedies through the courts have so far failed or been deemed too expensive.

Liquidator Brenton Hunt told Stuff he identified a number of potential breaches of the Companies Act by Van T Veen, and sent him a letter outlining these and a request for his response to them. He said the director strongly refuted all of the claims.

Hunt said he considered taking legal action against Van T Veen and contacted a lawyer, but was told the action could cost upwards of $100,000.

He deemed it “not economic” to pursue.

Shape Construction customer JD Rayner made two complaints about Van T Veen to MBIE - one in December 2024, and another in May last year.

The first complaint, which remains unresolved, alleged poor project management, misallocation of funds and shoddy workmanship.

Rayner engaged the company to build him a bach near Lyttelton in 2023 on a $490,000 fixed price contract. He paid about $228,000 of that - for which he received plans and prefab shells before Shape Construction went under.

As of today Rayner’s Lyttelton land is empty. His prefab is in storage.

Stuff made initial queries about Rayner’s complaints in April.

At that time, Duncan Connor, MBIE’s national manager of occupational regulation, told Stuff that Rayner’s complaint related to Van T Veen’s conduct was still before the Building Practitioners Board.

The other complaint alleging Van T Veen carried out restricted work while not being licenced was closed due to insufficient evidence, Connor said.

Rayner said he received no updates on his complaints until the day after Stuff began making initial inquiries about them.

“I’ve tried to be professional the whole way through but now it is getting pretty difficult,” he said.

“I have made the time for this. What about the average citizen who can’t? The parents working two jobs, four kids, they don’t have the time or resources to be chasing this kind of thing up. And I still can’t get answers.”

Rayner said he believed the system was deeply flawed in protecting its consumers.

He said he spoke to Stuff to warn others of the risks of trusting builders with large amounts of money, and to call out MBIE for its delayed, protracted processes.

“I know I can’t get my money back. But if I can help others, that is what I am doing this for.”

Jenny Roberts and Cameron Murray engaged Shape Construction to build their $970,000 dream home on Mt Pleasant in 2019.

The project was never completed. According to a recently released High Court judgment there were a myriad of claimed defects including the containers being rusted, foundations being poured in the wrong place, and consent issues that followed.

The couple cancelled the contract in 2023, and took both Shape and its director to court last year.

In his judgment, Justice Owen Paulsen said the build “did not proceed well” and Roberts and Murray suffered substantial losses.

In their statement of claim, the couple pleaded just one cause of action - that Van T Veen knowingly assisted in a breach of trust by Shape Construction by issuing invoices for work not completed and goods not ordered, and that their funds were used for other purposes.

Justice Paulsen said the couple initially tendered an amended statement of claim with more causes of action, but then did not formally file one.

The couple paid more than $600,000 toward their build, according to the judgment.

Despite that, an affidavit from the building company director that took over the project said it was no more than 30 to 35% advanced, and no more than $112,000 had been spent on it.

Roberts and Murray claimed their losses were more than $1m - half of which they sought from Van T Veen, the judgment noted. (They could no longer seek this from the company due to the liquidation.)

The director did not appear at the substantive hearing.

Despite this, the judge found in his favour.

In his decision, Justice Paulsen said: “With regret for the unfortunate and unjust circumstances in which [the couple] have found themselves, I am not satisfied [their] claim against Mr Van T Veen has been made out.

“Beyond the terms of the contract itself there is not a sufficient evidential basis for the contention that payments were to be applied only for an agreed purpose and no other.”

The judge said Roberts and Murray chose to proceed on a single cause of action rather than file an amended statement of claim.

“They have failed to satisfy me they are entitled to judgment on that single cause of action. In those circumstances their application for judgment by formal proof must be dismissed.”

In the same judgment, Justice Paulsen noted:

“Mr Hunt [the liquidator] also confirms that Shape Construction has been trading insolvently since March 2017. A claim for breaches of director duties is being explored.”

(According to the Institute of Directors New Zealand, trading while insolvent is illegal and can carry “severe” consequences including personal liability for directors, civil penalties and criminal charges).

In a separate case, Stuff has obtained a document sent by Van T Veen to an Auckland couple, quoting them tens of thousands of dollars for windows from a South Island contractor.

The document purports to be from the contractor and has its letterhead on it.

The couple say they paid, but the windows were never installed.

Stuff contacted the contractor, who said no such order was ever made with them. They said they had no knowledge of the document sent to the Auckland couple.

Van T Veen declined to answer Stuff’s questions about the order, or about where the Auckland couple’s money went.

In Alexandra, a couple with home building experience told Stuff they were seven months pregnant when Shape went under.

“I’ll never build a home again,” one of them, who considered Van T Veen a friend, said.

They estimated they lost close to half a million dollars having to engage new builders after their contract was cancelled due to the liquidation.

“There needs to be better systems in place for consumers,” they said.

“As soon as he stopped paying tax we should have been notified. We had no idea.”

The Auckland-based couple said they signed a $990,000 fixed-price contract and were hundreds of thousands of dollars in the hole with a prefab shell and land they were trying to sell, with no interested buyers coming forward for more than a year.

“It would have cost us double to start again. We are stuck.”

They said their containers were not wrapped to be weathertight, and the timbers inside were rotting when they received them. They were now in storage in Christchurch.

“This whole ordeal has been hell.”

Among Shape Construction’s other creditors were subcontractors believed to have been owed hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Meanwhile, in February 2023, Van T Veen posted a photograph to Facebook from inside a plane cockpit during a flight.

He told a friend in the comments that he recently got his licence to fly microlight planes.

“We’ve got a few remote sites so [I] was able to call my flight time work,” he commented.

Van T Veen initially agreed to meet with Stuff for this story.

“Upon reflection I am [no] longer available to meet up,” he later said in an email. “Happy to help but I won’t be going against my advice.”

He asked for questions to be sent to him in writing.

In a statement in response to a detailed list of questions, he said: “Given the complexity of the matters raised, the existence of competing accounts of events, and the fact that various matters remain disputed, I do not intend to provide a detailed response to individual allegations.

“I reject any suggestion that I intentionally misled customers or acted dishonestly.

“The liquidation of Shape Construction was a difficult outcome for all parties involved.”

Van T Veen declined to comment further.

According to his LinkedIn, Van T Veen now works as the business development manager for a security company. Last month, the company posted a photograph of him to its Instagram, during a work-related visit to Mississippi in the United States.

Stuff asked MBIE about the status of the active December 2024 complaint against Van T Veen.

In a statement, Bevan Yee, the acting national manager of MBIE’s occupational regulation, said the complaint was complex, required further information midway through last year, and was still before the Building Practitioners Board.

Yee said MBIE was unable to comment on when a decision was expected, as the board was an independent, statutory body.

Stuff also asked MBIE, as the building and company regulator, what was being done to protect consumers in this space.

Bolen Ng, the national manager of business registries, said in the current scenario, a Licensed Building Practitioner who is also the director of a failed company could be considered for prohibition by the Registrar of Companies, if it is found that the director’s management contributed to the failure of the company.

Ng said licensed insolvency practitioners (liquidators) had an obligation to report serious wrongdoing to the Registrar of Companies, or relevant agency depending on the circumstances.

“[They] can also pursue directors who have breached their duties through the civil registry of the High Court, should they wish.

“MBIE will assess any complaints received regarding breaches of director’s duties.

“However, a prosecution may only be initiated in circumstances where there is both sufficient evidence and public interest in the matter.”