Tradies accused of 'devastating' acts after home builder collapses

An almost complete Porter Davis property went up in flames on Monday afternoon in southwest Melbourne, with suspicions the blaze was started by subcontractor tradies after the major building company sensationally collapsed last week.

Emergency services responded to a call around 4.30 pm and were able to contain the blaze, thankfully reporting no injuries as the property was unoccupied.

However, police confirmed to Yahoo News Australia on Tuesday that they are treating the fire as "suspicious" after a string of vandalisms to Porter Davis properties have been reported, with customers saying they're "scared" their property could be next.

Many are now reportedly padlocking their properties and installing surveillance cameras, with one customer sharing that upward of $50,000 worth of damage was done to her home in Berwick, only 20 minute drive away from where the now burnt property stands.

“I’m completely devastated and shocked,” the owner, who wished not to be named, told The Herald Sun. “We worked so hard and put a lot of money into this house to only hope we could bring our new baby home this week.”

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The woman, who hoped to move into the property last Thursday with her partner and 13-day-old baby, believes tradies turned on the taps in her bathroom to intentionally flood her freshly built home, as well as scratch her doors and walls with a knife.

“What they have done has not affected Porter Davis at all but unfortunately only us as now the damages are more than what we had remaining on the house,” she said.

"It’s devastating to understand that someone would actually break in and do this to our home."

Another Melbourne local, Sandra Csoban, told 9News she has changed her locks amid fears of vandalism and looting as some local have taken it upon themselves to rotate shifts monitoring their properties.

Porter Davis collapse has caused chaos

Hundreds of jobs are on the line and thousands of new builds are in limbo after the collapse of the home building company was announced last week.

All work on more than 1,500 homes across Victoria and 200 properties in Queensland stopped immediately after Porter Davis went into liquidation, while a further 779 customers with signed contracts for new builds have been totally left in the lurch.

One of those affected customers is Melbourne mum Katharyn Borg, who put down a $1,500 deposit to build her dream home on Queensland's Bribie Island, said she couldn't have anticipated the sudden turn of events.

"Porter Davis, to me, was a massive company. So many people would have never thought they would go into liquidation," she said.

The company citied rising input costs, supply chain delays, labour shortages and falling demand as reasons behind their collapse.

They shared that they hoped to support customers who are currently completing their homes, while thanking the group's 370 employees for their hard work. However, it is unclear what solution will be offered to both parties.

with AAP

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