‘It’s just wrong’: Burlington condo buyers told to pay more or lose units
A group of local homebuyers feel like the rug's been pulled out from under them.
Glenn Gillespie paid $509,000 for a two-bedroom unit on the 13th floor of the still incomplete Nautique Lakefront Residences building in Burlington back in 2015. Last month, the developer called and said he could pay roughly $300,000 more or take his money back with some interest and lose the unit.
It's just wrong. I'm sure just like every other person in this province or in this country would, read about this and say, wow, that is awful' and get angry and ask, how can this happen in a country like Canada?" said Gillespie.
The situation is not unique to Gillespie. Multiple purchasers of the Nautique Lakefront Residences reached out to InsideHalton.com with similar stories.
According to Gillespie, some of those affected have started a group to communicate. Some are considering legal action.
We're just normal, average people that have gone out and saved our money, worked hard and have expectations that these things can't happen," said Gillespie.
There have been a number of similar cases around the province recently of developers cancelling purchase agreements if additional money isn't provided. Notably, a case in Barrie resulted in Premier Doug Ford calling the practice unacceptable" and pledging to implement changes to prevent it from happening in the future.
As of right now, most pre-construction contracts allow developers to require more money or cancel sales agreements.
Tariq Adi, president and CEO of Adi Development Group, said they sincerely apologize to all the affected customers, and the decision to go this route was a difficult one.
We strived to maintain our original 2015 sales prices for buyers, but there have been unprecedented cost escalations and material shortages seen across the industry. With the significant delays in approvals and the impact of construction cost inflation, sub-trades opted to walk away from the contracts they signed previously to avoid their own losses," said Adi.
He specifically pointed to supply chain issues being experienced across the industry and inflated material costs, which he said are anywhere between 30 and 100 per cent.
We are in touch with each customer personally to discuss customized solutions to help everyone move forward with their purchase. We have partnered with alternative lenders to help our buyers requalify, also with extended capped rates to further protect them from future interest rate increases. Our discussions with customers indicate over half have agreed to repurchase with us, and we are returning deposits to all others with six per cent interest," said Adi.
Many of the Nautique Lakefront Residence purchasers are now left with an unclear housing future.
Gillespie had hoped to retire at the building.
I've been a fireman for Toronto for 22 years and my back is broken already. I've seen things and done things, you know, I want to just sail into the sunset, and enjoy my retirement. I love the city. I love Burlington. I love living here. But you know, that's even in jeopardy that I could live in the city that I've been in for 41 years," said Gillespie.
STORY BEHIND THE STORY: With skyrocketing prices continuing to impact the housing market, we wanted to examine how some local condo buyers have been hit with an unexpected cost increase.