The Minister for Commerce has refused to provide meaningful support to Western Australian families impacted by the collapse of Bella Modular, and failed to explain how it would close loopholes that leave customers of modular builders exposed.
Leader of The Nationals WA Shane Love MLA, today raised concerns on behalf of impacted Bella Modular customers in Parliament, many of whom have lost their life savings, questioning the lack of home indemnity insurance for modular builds.
“While the Minister for Housing is spruiking modular housing on social media as the future of building, this Government is failing to ensure basic protections are in place for families when things go wrong,” Mr Love said.
“Following the collapse of Bella Modular, I have heard heartbreaking stories from single parents, cancer survivors and families who engaged this builder in good faith, only to be left facing devastating financial losses.
“For some families, the losses run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, leaving them with enormous debts and no home to show for it. Reports indicate almost 60 WA families have been caught up in the collapse, with over $4 million owed to customers, contractors and suppliers.
“Yet, when I asked the Minister for Commerce what this Government was going to do to protect these families and prevent it happening again, he had no answers.”
Mr Love condemned the Minister’s response to affected Bella Modular customers, after he pointed to customers’ responsibility to understand the terms of their contracts.
“Blaming families for not reading the fine print is an extraordinary response from a Commerce Minister whose job is to ensure consumers are properly protected.
“The Minister should be explaining why the regulatory system failed these families, not lecturing them about their contracts.”
Mr Love said the Minister had also failed to explain why he would not close a loophole that allows some modular builders to operate without builders’ registration.
“It is difficult to understand why a family building a home should receive less protection simply because that home is constructed off-site.
“Modular builders still build homes. They still have to comply with building codes and construction standards. The Government should not allow a loophole in the registration system to leave families carrying all the risk.
“If modular housing really is the future of home building in WA, then the Government must make sure consumer protection is part of that future.”