More than a dozen homes in a western Sydney suburb that has been plagued by sinking ground will be demolished after failing the developer’s own quality standards.
A total of 18 properties in the community development of Jordan Springs East that were bought back by Lendlease will start to be torn down from as early as next month.
They were repurchased by the developer as part of a $600 million compensation scheme set up in 2020 after sinking ground in the area was found to have cracked and damaged dozens of buildings.
“Since becoming aware of the ground settlement issues, we’ve been working with affected owners and administering a compensation scheme to address the impacts,” Lendlease managing director of communities Ranisha Clarke said today.
“As part of the scheme, a number of homes were repurchased from owners, and some of these will now be removed as they do not meet our own internal quality standards.
“We’re continuing to stand by our customers and committed to providing ongoing support as we work through the process.”
The 18 homes have been slated for demolition for failing Lendlease’s own internal standards, not because of an external order instructing them to do so.
Demolition works are due to be finished by the end of the year.
There were disagreements between Lendlease and the local council about how many of the roughly 1000 properties in the development were actually affected by the sinking ground.
Lendlease puts the number at around 90, but Penrith Council put notations on the 841 properties’ planning certificates – a position Lendlease/the developer said in October 2020 it disagreed with “based on the extensive geotechnical investigations”.
Jordan Springs East is part of Lendlease’s larger Jordan Springs development, which will be home to about 13,000 residents once it is finished.
The development is in Sydney’s west, about 7km from the centre of Penrith.
