2009/01/12
PROPERTY owners at a new, upmarket housing complex in East London have accused the contractor responsible for building their houses of gross incompetence.
Several irate residents of Villa Toscana in Beacon Bay have accused Shield Homebuilders owner Peter Fowler of misleading them.
Nancy Mgquba, who bought a unit in the development in 2005, said Fowler had led her to believe that he was building her home and even took money from her.
It turned out he was building the unit on the property of her neighbour.
“I was under the impression he was building my house and made three payments to him totalling R34500.
“When he got to roof level he just stopped building and said he couldn’t continue.”
She instructed her lawyers to demand that Fowler continue as he was in breach of the building contract which stated that her house would be completed within 150 days of the start of building operations.
Then she went to see Fowler at his offices in Vincent.
“He told me he wasn’t in breach of the contract because it was not my house he was building, but that of my neighbour.”
But Mgquba’s neighbour, Mope Mabitle, said the house was not his, either.
“I was surprised to suddenly get a phone call from Peter asking that I meet with him to discuss payment,” he said.
“I went to see him and he told me that he had built my house to roof level and that I needed to pay him, but this was the first I had heard of work starting on my house.”
Mabitle said he believed Fowler had made a mistake and the house being built on his land was actually the unit intended for his neighbour on the opposite side, James Davies.
“I told him it was not my house because I had chosen a different style,” he said.
“Incredibly, he had led Nancy to believe it was her house, when in actual fact he was building James’ house on my plot and was trying to convince us all that it was ours.”
Davies, who was also under the impression it was his house, said he had approached another builder to complete the job after Fowler had stopped work at roof level.
“The other builder came back and told me my house had been built on the wrong property,” he said.
“By then I had paid over R104000 to Peter for a house that was essentially not mine.”
Another home owner in the development, who asked not to be named, accused Fowler of “tardiness” and said he was fearful that Fowler would return to damage his home.
The owner said he had halted payment because the completion date of the house had been put back on at least five occasions.
“Fowler recently approached me for another draw and, after I refused, suggesting he first finish the house, he swore at me over the phone and abused me verbally and threatened to do damage to the house.”
The owner said he would consider hiring another builder to complete the work.
“By the time the house is complete it would have taken close to 16 months to finish,” he said. - By ANDREW STONE
Senior Reporter
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