When Susan and Tony Mancuso sold their home, they did so as quickly as they could, assured their new apartment would be ready within months.
They were intent on securing an off-the-plan unit at a new Kembla Grange development, near Wollongong in NSW’s Illawara region.
The ground-level apartment would help Mr Mancuso, 83, manage his lung condition, while remaining close to family.
Told construction was expected by January 2026, the couple paid a holding deposit in September 2025 and a five per cent deposit in October.
Ten months later, the grandparents are living in their daughter’s spare room unsure when, or if, they will ever step foot in their new home.
“They had nowhere to go,” their daughter, Marie Sinclair, told AAP.
“I couldn’t leave them homeless.”
On Tuesday, the Mancusos learned through media reports the developer, Bathla Group, had entered voluntary administration.
“Now, my parents are thinking: ‘Have I lost my deposit? What does that mean for me now?'” Ms Sinclair said.
The couple are among many buyers potentially affected by the collapse of Bathla Group, which boasts thousands of homes under development including in Sydney’s west.
The firm said on Tuesday the move followed a “perfect storm” of complications, including a market downturn and rising construction costs.
According to its website, Bathla has more than 7000 dwellings in its delivery pipeline, with projects spanning NSW, South Australia and Victoria.
Founder and director Bhart Bhushan described the process as an “orderly restructure”, adding his first thoughts were with employees and customers.
Insolvency specialist Teneor, which has taken control of the Bathla and its subsidiaries, said its priority was to minimise the fallout for stakeholders.
Ms Sinclair said she had been told by a sales agent the Kembla Grange project would continue as planned with the backing of a private lender.
But said she would not hold out hope after delivery was pushed back from January to March, June, August and, most recently, October.
Fellow buyer Janice Cahill, 70, knows the pattern well.
She put a deposit down on an apartment at the Kembla Grange development in August 2025, expecting to move in by September.
That completion date has since been pushed back four times, most recently to December 2026, which is also her sunset clause deadline.
“It’s financial, its mental health – it’s the whole thing,” she said of the toll inflicted by the repeated delays.
On top of a $60,000 deposit and $23,000 in stamp duty, Ms Cahill has forgone her pension.
The proceeds from the sale of her home, not yet spent on her new unit, pushed her over the asset test limit, she said.
“All these years of waiting and paying out money for storage and paying out money for rent,” she said.
“It’s just getting too much.”
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