Inspired Homes: Customers left waiting years for homes see red as tardy builder gets on tools for public work

Long-suffering customers of Inspired Homes are angry the builder is working for a State-owned developer despite regulators probing long delays in private projects. Having waited up to four years for roofs to be put on their unfinished homes, Inspired customers are surprised to see the rapid progress at six terrace homes being built for DevelopmentWA in Hamilton Hill. Customer David Daff said Inspired seemed to have no problems getting tradies for DevelopmentWA’s terraces after starting work about five months ago, yet more than 70 customers enduring long delays in having their homes finished. “It annoys us that our tax dollars are going to fund Inspired delaying more homes,” said Mr Daff, who has written to Premier Roger Cook complaining about DevelopmentWA hiring the builder. After more than 17 months of reports in The West Australian about the delays, Mr Cook promised last week to meet Inspired customers if he won Saturday’s State election and claimed his Government had been taking action to help them. “We continue to make sure that Inspired Homes is getting on with the process of meeting, completing their backlog,” the Premier said when questioned on the campaign trail. “But we want them to go to those customers who have been waiting the longest, not to the customers that might provide them with a bigger margin.” When asked on Tuesday about DevelopmentWA hiring Inspired despite long delays in other jobs, Mr Cook said he was not across the “detail in relation to that specific issue”. “I will make sure I’m briefed on this, when I have the opportunity to do so,” he said. “But that doesn’t pass the pub test.” Inspired Homes has claimed it is a victim of the labour and material shortages that hit the building industry in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers were again on the job early Tuesday for Inspired’s terraces job in DevelopmentWA’s OneOneFive estate. The project is on the former Hamilton Hill Senior High School. sites. Customers are keenly awaiting the outcome of State inquiries into whether Inspired should be deregistered, a move that would allow them to access building indemnity insurance and hire new builders. Commerce Minister Sue Ellery promised in June that State regulator Building and Energy was assessing complaints. “It has sought information from Inspired Homes about its plans for delivering its current projects, particularly those dating back to 2020 and 2021,” she said. She asked the Building Services Board in September to seek a briefing from the State regulator on whether Inspired was meeting registration requirements amid “the significant number of Inspired Homes still awaiting completion”. Mr Cook said last week Inspired would only be deregistered if Building and Energy found there was sufficient case for the move. Mr Daff said he was concerned the DevelopmentWA job was helping keep Inspired afloat and preventing affected customers hiring new builders to complete their homes. DevelopmentWA said did not answer questions from thewest.com.au about whether it was aware of complaints about Inspired when it awarded the contract or gave the builder the final go-ahead. In a written statement, DevelopmentWA said it undertook a “competitive procurement process” in 2021 and Inspired was chosen after “an initial comprehensive financial assessment”. Dodging questions about when it gave the final nod to Inspired and when work started, Development WA said the “project experienced a number of delays, resulting in construction commencing in 2024”. “During the delay, DevelopmentWA undertook further advanced financial risk assessments of Inspired Homes to ensure the project was viable, with independent advice confirming it met financial requirements during that time,” it said. “We would expect Inspired Homes to deliver all contracted homes for all customers who are experiencing delays.” Digging by Mr Daff showed Inspired took out builders’ insurance and gained building permits for the Hamilton Hill job in April last year, while he claims to have been told by workers they started around October. Landgate aerial photographic updates on the Perth metropolitan area shot from August 15 to September 10 last year show no signs of work having started. Inspired could not be contacted.