[rbt]

I bought my loft in June - the building was complete bar detailing by this point and my unit had cabinets, bathroom things and a lot of fittings in place.
...
A month has passed and i'm still no closer to taking occupancy. My unit is done bar the cleaning and a lick of paint here and there. Floors are down, appliances are in. I walked around it yesterday and the ac was on...

If you're not in the unit and had a mid-July occupancy date, then compensation is certainly to be expected *if* you eventually occupy the unit.

I have no idea what would happen in the developer opted to back out of the contract and give you back your deposit. Your lawyer could answer that question.

It sounds like your unit has long been ready for occupancy (technically you don't even require counters, let alone painted walls or clean floors). I'm surprised they didn't shove you into the building anyway to avoid penalties and start collecting rent payments.

I would have thought someone declaring bankruptcy would scramble to get the easily accessible dollars available, or that the lenders didn't insist proactive steps to ensure debts did not continue to increase.

 

[Hydrogen]

I agree with rbt, one has to wonder why they haven't moved fast to get people into the building. The idea of it being caught in some sort of legal limbo sounds ominous.

 

[badgeruk]

The reason for the delay - certification for occupancy.
The place has been visited by inspectors now about 5 times, every time they come they find a new problem. They won't list all problems in one shot, they keep coming back and doing a one-at-a-time job. Call me a cynic, but these inspections cost a lot of money...

I agree that now things are dragging, the investor will want his return - quickly. I have a feeling that ass will start to be kicked. There is an inspection tomorrow, the vibe from the sales guys is this is the final one, they did a huge job on the hvac last week to get it up to spec.

The upshot of all of this is that once 50% occupation occurs, there won't be any messing around in getting the place registered, so I can finally start paying mortgage instead of rent.

 

[avatarreb]

It is surprising how long some of these delays could be. There should be stronger protection for consumers.

I agree this is an area that I definitely think needs more regulation. Condo purchase agreements are always tilted in the favour of the builder with little room for negotiations. The ones that will negotiate are usually smaller builders with higher risk projects.

Expect things like:
They can terminate your contract after set amount of delays resulting in loss of your potential equity. (e.g. mode cresford) They can then resell the project at a higher cost.
They can stake claim to your tax rebates. E.g. if there are rebates on GST, they can claim that for themselves.
They can substitute material without notice
They can change floor plans and sizes to a certain degree without notice
etc, etc, etc...

Back to my experience. 3 months after purchasing at Cityplace (Neo/Montage) I received a letter saying the project was delayed 1 year, no reason given. Several calls later I finally got a human who told me the reason for the delay was that they had no builder secured for the project. Who knows if this was even true; obviously this fact wasn't disclosed during sales. You got to love the customer service, the delay letter was the 1st and last time Cityplace has corresponded.

 

[avatarreb]

The problem with all these delays is that there is a lack of accountability by many of these developers. Even the sales people have trouble keeping a straight face when quoting outrageously optimistic completion dates. I think that if the laws set stricter controls on delivery variances, developers would be have no choice but to tell the truth and not the marketing bullshit. But this will never happen, developers have huge lobby groups…