Problems with housing construction and tenancy disputes have topped the list of the most common complaints to NSW Fair Trading in the Maitland area last financial year.
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Almost 200 complaints were lodged by people living in the 2320, 2321, 2322 and 2323 postcodes in 2014/15, according to data released this week.
Complaints about tenancy, rental bonds and residential issues made up 20.5 per cent of the 190 instances flagged with Fair Trading – 13 times more than the previous year.
People experiencing problems while building new homes, or renovating existing ones, accounted for 18 per cent of complaints.
East Maitland man Sachin, who asked for his surname to remain unpublished for privacy reasons, lodged a formal complaint with Fair Trading in July, 2014, after problems began to appear during the construction of his family’s new home.
He said the builder had used bricks of odd shapes and sizes, including some that were breaking, and brittle mortar that was crumbling in places.
Cracks had also appeared in the joints through the brickwork within months of them being laid.
“The brickwork was a mess,” Sachin said.
“The [Fair Trading] inspector acknowledged all the defects.
“Major repairs were needed.
“We were building a new house, not something that was 20 years old.”
Sachin pursued action through Fair Trading because of the poor quality of workmanship and materials used to build the house.
After a favourable ruling from Fair Trading, Sachin and his family eventually had the necessary repairs completed and moved into their new home at the end of last year.
However, he said it was likely that he would have to lodge further complaints about defects in the construction of the house.
The figures also showed a general spike in the number of tenancy-related complaints across the state during 2014/15.
Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe said this was because of a new free complaint information service for tenants, residents, landlords and property managers.
“Helping NSW people resolve tenancy problems continues to be a key role for the agency’s dispute resolution experts,” he said.
“The new service has achieved an outstanding success rate of 95 percent, up from 88 percent in 2013/14 and significantly reduces matters going to NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal.
“Fair Trading intervention consistently delivers better results, is free, friendly and helps ensure a fair marketplace.”
Top 10 complaints 2013/2014
- Housing construction – 34
- Used cars – 18
- Electrical, electronic, whitegoods, gas appliances – 17
- Furniture, furnishings, Manchester – 14
- Clothing, footwear, accessories, jewellery – 13
- Car repairs and maintenance – 10
- New cars – 5
- Travel, tourism – 4
- Tenancy, bonds – 3
- Property purchase, sale – 3
TOTAL – 121
Top 10 complaints for 2014/2015
- Tenancy, bonds – 39
- Housing construction – 34
- Electrical, electronic, whitegoods, gas appliances – 21
- Used cars – 19
- New cars – 19
- Car repairs and maintenance – 17
- Clothing, footwear, accessories, jewellery – 15
- Furniture, furnishings, Manchester – 15
- Travel, tourism – 8
- Property purchase, sale – 3
TOTAL – 190