Hotondo Homes TAS, Hobart

The absolute worst experience of our life, a complete and utter nightmare – Update: As of January the company has gone into Liquidation, affecting 20 customer and owing debts of over $1 million, but they were still signing contracts as late as 2 weeks before closing their doors. Hotondo still refuse to respond to customers calls and emails nor media requests and we have all been told to talk to the Liquidator who has already said there is no money available to be paid back.

After almost a year of mistakes, delays and threats Hotondo cancelled the contract to build our dream home leaving us over $150 000 out of pocket with not a thing to show for it. We chose to build with Hotondo as they promised they would begin construction within 4 months and complete the entire build in 11 months, ensuring we would receive the $45k in Home Builder grants. So we sold our house, signed a 12 month lease and moved our family into a rental whilst we waited for our dream home to be built. After paying our deposit we heard nothing about the construction for months and assumed everything was on track. After 4 months we emailed to confirm they would commence construction soon and were informed there had been a “minor” delay due to council “deliberately delaying” building approval. We were assured, in writing, that the issue would not delay the completion however. Suspicious we contacted council to find the issue was actually major, as the design approval had been rejected due to not meeting Australian Standards, not councils “deliberate delays” and essentially little to no progress had been made since signing. We complained to the owner as we were going to lose the $45k homebuilders grant. The owner told us the delays weren’t their problem or fault and if we weren't happy they would cancel the contract and we could go elsewhere, knowing that homeowner grants had since closed and we would lose this money, so financially the best option was to continue at that time. In May (5 Months) we were told they had all the paperwork ready to send to council and we were 5 weeks away from starting. That time passed and so did the contractual 120 day BA approval time. We were then told no, 5 weeks more, and then 5 weeks more without ever being provided real information about the cause of the ever lengthening delays other than the issue being related to engineering or blamed on designers or someone or something else. We contacted Hotondo head office literally begging them for help and they told us the same thing, if you're not happy to find a new builder. Repeat follow up emails and calls were ignored. By October Building Approval still had not been lodged with council and approval would be at least “5 weeks away” still. At best Hotondo may have commenced building our house in November, nearly 12 months since we signed and the same month they were supposed to complete it. We complained again to the builder and requested compensation for the delays, they reacted by cancelling the contract, falsely claiming that we did not provide evidence of our capacity to pay. This evidence had been provided to their sales manager within the contractual timeframe, but has somehow since disappeared along with their Sales Manager who left the organisation shortly after we signed. Hotondo have absolutely destroyed us financially and mentally and nearly left our family homeless. Our experience was a complete and total nightmare and the absolute worst thing to have ever happened in our lives. We have now commenced legal action to try and recover at least some of the $150000+ we have lost as Hotondo’s only compensation was an offer of $1000.

Dream Home – I love the way the house is coming up, much better than we expected the house to be. I appreciate how Craig explained things for me and always find time to discuss things; even for making small enquiries. As we made a lot of changes to the plan and selections, I must appreciate his filing and record-keeping skills, we can always check back what we discussed earlier; he made sure everything is in order. I cannot wait to start living in the house, in a few weeks.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND HOTONDO HOMES NEW TOWN – Hotondo Homes New Town have been fantastic to date! We are nearing the end of our build and we couldn’t be happier. From the very start it was about our needs & wants & giving us our 4 bdrm dream home within our budget. So far nothing has cost us more than the inclusive price. Craig from Hotondo Homes New Town has always treated us with respect and like we are apart of the Hotondo Family. Craig has worked tirelessly to keep us happy, especially with changes to suit us.

Communication has always been great.

The progress of the build has been amazing. The professionalism of our building supervisor is beyond words. We receive weekly phone calls ever since our build started. We can not wait to move in to our beautiful Hotondo Home which will not be long.

Will be updating our review once we do.

New house by Hotondo – Hotondo New Town built our house well within their quoted four and a half months (following council approval), and went that extra mile to accommodate our various wishes, foibles and extras regarding time, alterations and for advice. Enquiries via telephone and email were promptly answered and settled in a friendly and cooperative manner. This applied on-site also when necessary with the Site Foreman well in control. Being approachable and obliging appears to be a Hotondo hallmark. The tradesmen were artisans, and our finished product is all quality. We strongly recommend this 4.8 star firm. Marg and Jim Garrigan