Buyers plead to break real estate contracts

PHOTO: Cynthia Huang worries she’ll be locked into a contract in her unit in the Imperial Towers development. (ABC News: Billy Cooper)

A group of apartment buyers is pleading with the NSW government to help break their contracts after purchasing off-the-plan units in a Parramatta development where defects were recently discovered.

NSW Fair Trading issued developer Hassall Developments with a Prohibition Order in early July, demanding the company rectify a number of defects in its Imperial Towers development in Hassall Street, Parramatta.

Many buyers had paid deposits of about 10 per cent for their new apartments, up to five years ago.

While a Prohibition Order was issued by NSW Fair Trading on July 1, preventing the developer from registering a strata plan, it was replaced three weeks later with an order that did not contain that specific clause.

The change paved the way for the developer to be able to register a strata plan by the end of the month, making the contracts binding within 14 days.

Cynthia Huang paid tens of thousands of dollars in 2016 for a deposit on her dream apartment in the twin-towers development and said she was devastated when she first heard there were problems with the buildings.

“I saved for a long time for this and for my future home,” she said.

“Those defects are about structural problems that can cause safety hazards and I can’t imagine how this could happen to me.”

The exterior of a high-rise apartment building. — **The Parramatta development is subject to a prohibition order from the NSW building watchdog. (ABC News)**

Ms Huang said she grew even more concerned when she saw the original Prohibition Order was re-issued, allowing the developer to register the strata plan.

“I felt protected by the initial order but when I saw the second [order] I was disappointed and stressed,” she said.

Ms Huang said she was not able to terminate the contract and receive a refund for her deposit, nor could she move into her apartment as the development was not considered complete or habitable until an Occupation Certificate was issued.