Jordan Springs East, is a new development in Llandilo, near Penrith in Sydney's west where many Indian families have built their first home.
But some of the new properties have suffered sunken driveways, cracked walls and cracked concrete slabs within the newly-built estate which has the property owners worried.
Highlights:
- Cracks in certain homes in Sydney's Jordan Springs
- Penrith Council has issued 841 notices for a home assessment
- Many property owners worried about future
Jordan Springs resident Amit Vohra says his front yard developed cracks and started sinking just months after he moved into his new home.
"Initially, I thought this problem was only with my house, but gradually similar complaints started appearing in the neighbourhood," he says.
"15 houses around us have been affected due to land sinking. If I talk about my house, whole front yard sank about a foot within months of moving in”, Mr Vohra told SBS Hindi.
Amit soon found out that his neighbours too were complaining about similar issues.
Mr Vohra says he immediately contacted his developer Lendlease to raise his concerns.
Newly built driveway of Amit Vohra in Jordan Springs Source: Sbs Hindi
"They inspected the property and the front yard of his house was repaired. Though I am still worried about the future," he says.
Everything seems fine right now, but I am worried about the future. This is our first house, I just pray that our house stays safe.
The house next door to Mr Vohra has been abandoned due to cracks in the property while some other damaged properties have been repurchased by the builders.
The local council has acknowledged the matter and has issued notation on the planning certificates of 841 properties in the area.
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House damaged by sinking ground is left abandoned since years Source: Sbs Hindi
In a response to council's step, Lendlease has said, "Recently, Penrith City Council placed a notation on the planning certificates of 841 properties, before investigations requested by Council’s experts have concluded.
"Based on the extensive geotechnical investigations that we’ve undertaken during the past two years, Lendlease doesn’t agree with the position of the Council.
"We remain committed to continuing to work with [the] Council on behalf of our customers with the goal of removing the notation from properties which are not impacted."
Lendlease says it has taken a number of steps to rectify the issue.
"Since becoming aware of the ground settlement issue in 2018, we’ve been working with residents to rectify the issue and its impact."
The company says these steps involve extensive geotechnical investigations by an independent engineer in the whole of the Jordan Springs East precinct, a peer review of the independent engineer’s methodology by two other leading international geotechnical engineering firms, inspecting homes to ensure they were structurally safe, working with customers to understand and rectify the impacts, establishing a compensation scheme for impacted residents and establishing a customer hotline.
Lendlease says the issue is localised and does not extend to the whole of Jordan Springs East.
Jordan Spring east was developed on a swampland Source: Sbs Hindi
"Since 2018, we’ve removed two houses at Jordan Springs East. In addition, at this stage, we’ve offered to repurchase a further 42 houses where damage relating to settlement has occurred at a level considered to be inconsistent with Australian Standards despite the homes remaining structurally sound and safe to occupy.
"So far, approximately 20 owners have accepted our offer. We’ve established a compensation scheme with the Commissioner for Fair Trading to support those residents impacted by excessive land settlement at Jordan Springs East," Lendlease said in a statement.
