“Utter horror”: cancelled apartment contract prices single mum out of buying a home

When an apartment complex went into receivership, single mother Dee Marshman’s contract for a unit was terminated. Now, she’s desperately fighting for the home she bought, to avoid being priced out of her neighbourhood.

“If we don’t get that apartment, we never get a home,” she said. “I just find that hard to come to terms with, given the fact that I didn’t breach the contract in any way.”

Single mum Dee Marshman is fighting her apartment’s contract termination, in order to stay in the suburb where her kids are going to school. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Ms Marshman moved to South Brisbane with her two kids in 2020, renting while she saved to afford a home deposit on a teacher’s salary.

With the help of the first home super saver scheme, she was able to snag a modified two-bedroom unit at 35 Merivale St: a development formerly called ‘Akin’ by Tallis Property Group.

She received updates on construction until 2023, when legal trouble with the contracted builder Descon caused the project to stall.

The project then went into receivership with FTI Consulting in December of that year.

Design renders for 35 Merivale, formerly Akin by Tallis Property Group. The site went into receivership after the contract with builder Descon was terminated.

Both companies ended up in court over the development, which had already completed some of its construction. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Ms Marshman said she was sent several offers to rescind her contract in 2024, but didn’t want to without clear communication about what would happen to the project.

“During the whole process, I felt hopeful that the development would continue,” she said. “I did not want to jeopardise our home … I was noting that the market prices were rising, and I was concerned that it was taking so long for them to come back to us with any relevant information that would really help us, as buyers.”

The site is now up for sale with development approval for a 30-storey apartment. Buyers would have no obligation to honour previous contracts or use the development plans.

Finally, she was handed a termination of her contract in 2025, where she was informed the project would not be going forward.

The site at 35-39 Merivale St is now up for sale, and is being advertised with development approval for a 30-storey apartment tower that can fit 184 apartments.

FTI Consulting receiver Ross Blakely, appointed to 35 Merivale, said any buyers would have no obligation to proceed with the approved development plans.

“The conditions of the contracts entered into between proposed apartment buyers and the developer, including required development completion dates, could not be met,” he said. “Contracts have therefore progressively been terminated and deposits returned. The Receivers understand that the failure of the developer has impacted purchasers and it is disappointing for them.”

It is also understood the sale will include no obligations regarding previous contracts.

Ms Marshman said her rent had since spiked, and she was no longer able to afford any homes in the suburb since buying in 2021. Picture: Nigel Hallett

“I was in just utter horror and disbelief when I received the termination,” Ms Marshman said. “If that were to stand legally, I knew that my family and I, my two children, we would be left without a home.”

35 Merivale is by no means Brisbane’s only unfinished development. Research by SuburbTrends has shown a gap in approved projects in Queensland vs. those that have actually been built, with one in six approved apartment projects not seeing a completed build.

In addition, recent construction difficulties have led to longer wait times between an apartment’s development approval and completion, compared to a decade ago.

35 Merivale is one of many currently unfinished developments across all of Queensland.

Since she put in her deposit, Ms Marshman said her rent had spiked, and prices for units in the suburb had surged beyond her price range.

It is understood FTI Consulting has continued to engage with Ms Marshman to return her deposit. Ms Marshman said she continued to fight the termination, and that she didn’t want to leave the neighbourhood while both her kids were still in school.

“We’ve made a home here now,” she said. “We’re part of the community here. My daughter is still in primary school … for us to have to relocate, that would be a complete disruption to our sense of connection to community, to our relationships that we’ve established here.”

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