Stalled & cancelled projects
Construction stopped. Where does that leave your money?
Purchasers often describe a project as “cancelled” when what they mean is that nothing appears to be happening on site and nobody is answering the phone. Those are different situations with different routes. A slowed project may still be a delay matter. A project in a formal cancellation or liquidation process involves procedures of its own.
What needs to be confirmed first
- The current registered status of the project
- Actual construction progress against the payment plan
- Whether a formal cancellation or liquidation process has begun
- What the developer has communicated, and when
- Whether instalments are still being demanded
- What has been paid and to which account
- The SPA provisions dealing with suspension and termination
- Whether other purchasers have received notices
The question everyone asks first
Whether payments continue to fall due while construction is not progressing depends on how the payment plan is structured. Plans tied to construction milestones behave differently from plans tied to calendar dates. What we would caution against is deciding unilaterally to stop paying because the site looks quiet.
Waiting has a cost here
In a stalled project, information degrades and options narrow. Site conditions change, staff leave, correspondence stops being answered, and purchasers who acted earlier are further along whatever route ends up being available. If you have been told for two years that construction is about to restart, that is a reason to get the position assessed.
Questions on this page
A formal cancellation process involves specific procedures, and what a purchaser should do depends on the stage that process has reached and on the individual contract. Establish the actual registered status before acting on assumptions.