The house in Sydney's south was built with a giant windowless wall on the left side. Screenshot / Channel 9
The house in Sydney's south was built with a giant windowless wall on the left side. Screenshot / Channel 9
A Sydney dad was left fuming after sinking A$700,000 (NZ$756,871) into building his dream family home only to discover a miscommunication had left him with a bizarre "half-house". Now the building company has explained what went wrong.
Nepalese man Bishnu Aryal moved to Australia and saved for a deposit on a A$398,950 block of land in Edmondson Park where he planned to build the perfect home for his family.
After years of saving, Aryal employed the services of Zac Homes for a custom off-plan build worth A$322,400 in 2016 and let the business get to work, saying he "trusted the process".
When he checked on the progress three years later, he told TV show A Current Affair he "nearly fainted" after discovering his freestanding build had been turned into a duplex taking up half the block.
"Where's my house? I want the rest of my house. It's not a freestanding house, it's not a duplex, it's half a house. And it looks embarrassing," he told the programme.
A neighbour said the home is so odd-looking home that people often stop and take photos.
"A lot of people are always taking photos on the street. They think it looks pretty ugly," the neighbour said.
The home looks so bizarre that neighbours say people constantly stop to take photos. Screenshot / A Current Affair, Channel 9
Zac Homes said the build initially began as a single freestanding home but claimed it later had to be altered to fit with Liverpool Council regulations, which reportedly stated the block had to be an attached dwelling.
The company claimed Aryal – who speaks English as a second language – was made aware of the change of plan and was given the opportunity to pull out of the contract more than once.
Since the A Current Affair episode went to air on Monday night, Zac Homes has been bombarded with one-star reviews.
Now, the company has released a lengthy statement on Facebook in order to "provide some context to the dreadful situation".
"The disagreement that's causing the holdup is between the certifier and Liverpool City Council and we're working hard with them both to try and rectify the situation as quickly as possible," the company said.
"The fact is the owners of the lot next door have failed to proceed with building their home and that's why the certifier has continued to refuse to issue an Occupation Certificate."
Bishnu Aryal and his family have been left devastated after saving for years to build their dream home. Photo / Bishnu Aryal, Facebook
However, it appears Aryal was less than impressed with this explanation, taking to Facebook to claim the building company had been giving "false statements" in the wake of his story being made public.
"Zac Homes again has given a false statements with the media. This is why I bring this up, their statements has no proof and just making up the imaginary sentences," he wrote.
Zac Homes claimed it has "done all we can" by conducting on-site meetings with the certifier, making representations to the council, and lodging a complaint to Fair Trading NSW.
The building company said it has also waived a fee of A$23,000 and deferred Aryal's final payment in order to alleviate some of the family's stress.
"It's a mess. We know that. Even though this situation hasn't been caused by us, we are doing what we can to ensure that the right thing is done by Mr Aryal and his family. We feel for them," the company said.
On Monday night, Aryal revealed his family was forced to move into the house with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic limiting their options. He said he hopes his situation will serve as a warning to potential home buyers.
