Hi there. It sounds like you are in a difficult position. Delays in new land or property developments are common, often causing problems for purchasers such as you and your husband. Legally speaking, there are limited options for someone in your position to take action against the land developer for their delay, as the cost of legal action would most likely outweigh the cost of the delay. If you want to complain about the developer’s conduct, you should consider lodging a formal complaint with Consumer Affairs Victoria (www.consumer.vic.gov.au) or the Victorian Building Authority (www.vba.vic.gov.au).

If the builder is charging you fees for extending the building contract, it is important that you check the terms of the contract carefully to ensure these additional fees are allowed under the contract. In Victoria, building contracts are strictly regulated under a law called the Domestic Building Contracts Act 1995 (Vic). Builders are only allowed to charge their customers additional fees in particular circumstances, and some types of fees are prohibited. A lawyer can review your contract and advise you of what fees you should and should not be paying under the building contract.

If the extension fees are allowed under the contract, you may have to pay them to the builder. You can try negotiating with the builder to ask them to waive the fees on the grounds that the delay is the fault of the developer and out of your control. The builder may be willing to waive or reduce the fees, but this would be at their discretion.

Another option is to try to recover the builder’s additional fees from the developer. The first step would be to negotiate with the developer on the grounds that certain things were said to you about the title release date when you purchased the land, and these things turned out to be false (i.e. the actual title release date was significantly later than originally promised). As a result, you have had to pay additional fees under the building contract. You could attempt to claim all or part of these fees from the developer through a negotiated agreement. If this is unsuccessful, you would have the option of commencing legal proceedings against the developer to recover the additional costs.