The house in Sydney was built with a giant windowless wall on the left side. Photo / A Current Affair
A Sydney family has been left in shock after discovering the home they sunk over $700,000 into over a decade of saving was half of what they were expecting.
Nepalese man Bishnu Aryal, who moved to Australia and saved for a deposit on a $398,950 block of land in Edmonson Park, couldn't believe his eyes when he realised his dream home was quite literally cut down the middle.
Aryal – who speaks English as a second language – employed the services of Zac Homes for a custom off-plan build worth $322,400 in 2016 and let the business get to work, saying he "trusted the process".
The father of two checked the progress three years later and admitted he "nearly fainted" when he realised his free standing build had been turned into a duplex taking up half the block. The house sits on the right hand side of the block with a giant windowless wall facing the empty half.
"I called the supervisor and asked him what's going on, why is the house like this? And he said 'it's a duplex, semi-duplex', and I nearly fainted that day," Aryal said on Monday night's A Current Affair.
"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."
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.
"Zac Homes appreciates the frustrations of the Aryals surrounding the delay in the issue of the Occupation Certificate, these delays are not caused by Zac Homes," a spokesman told the Daily Mail.
"Instead, Zac Homes has worked diligently and at its own cost to attempt to remedy the outstanding matters so that the Occupation Certificate can issue," it said.
Zac Homes claims Aryals were made aware of the change of plan and were given opportunities to pull out of the contract more than once. The building company said it has done everything required to secure an Occupation Certificate for the block, saying the certifier and the council are "at an impasse".
Aryal told Channel 9 his family was forced to move into the house with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic limiting their options. He says he hopes his situation will serve as a warning to potential homebuyers.
Meanwhile, the peculiar property has been attracting locals, with neighbour Muhammad spotting a number of people stopping to take photos.
"A lot of people are always taking photos on the street. They think it looks pretty ugly," he said.