Unregistered ‘builder’ dupes elderly couple into shonky renovation, costing hundreds of thousands in repairs

An elderly couple left with a massive repair bill after using an unregistered builder to renovate their Applecross home have spoken out against shonky operators in a bid to spare others the heartache they’ve suffered. Heather and Jim Taylor, aged 68 and 83, respectively, say they were approached by a woman claiming to be a member of their church who said she’d heard from a mutual friend they wished to revamp their newly bought 1980s property. They say they were lured in by Serene May Ling Ng of Stars Homes & Granny Flats, who promised 70 per cent of profits would go to ministry work — then left with a wreck of a home. Also known as Serene Huang, Ms Ng is the founder of charitable “prayer warriors” Global Mission United, and according to the Taylors, lives in a “mansion”. The couple, however, were forced to move into a rental because they soon discovered the work Ms Ng had arranged was dangerous. The litany of dodgy and illegal work was extensive, said the Taylors who were unable to name a job that had been done correctly. Exposed electrical wiring throughout the roof could have caused a fire and walls were removed without checks to determine if they were load bearing. “The house would have come down,” Mrs Taylor told The West Australian. “There’s so much damage.” Registered builder Master Build Group was called in and has had to take multiple walls down. “The things they are uncovering ... shivers have gone up my spine just thinking what could have happened,” Mrs Taylor said. Master Build Group director Paul Yates said just about every code had been broken, including relating to waterproofing, plumbing fittings and step heights. Within the first week, a bathroom vanity “rotted and fell off the wall”, Mrs Taylor said. The couple had asked for the sunken lounge to be raised but didn’t expect it to be filled with rubble, leaving the new hardwood flooring surface so uneven that Mr Taylor described it as akin to ripples on the water. Mrs Taylor said the house was the first home “off the land” for her husband, who had worked hard as a farmer in New Zealand. “I think that’s why we got caught so easily because on the land, you shake hands and that’s the deal,” she said. “You don’t cheat people who are 80. How can you do that? “And this was all after years of hard work in farming and all the savings. You don’t holiday when you’re a dairy farmer.” The couple say they paid Ms Ng $215,000 and have recovered $70,000 from her through the State Administrative Tribunal. Redoing the work is costing about $219,000. Alarmingly, Mrs Taylor said that at one stage tradies engaged by Ms Ng to do a retaining wall and driveway repeatedly came to the property “threatening to break it down” because they hadn’t been paid. Ms Ng told The West Australian the ministry was never discussed with the Taylors. “They had a chance to decline the work from the start. It was not done deliberately to cheat or to hurt or to do any malice to anybody. We work so hard. We did our best.” She said the house was in a bad condition when the couple bought it, and described Mrs Taylor as “demanding”. “We remedied everything according to what the client wanted,” Ms Ng said. “Whatever she requested, we have done it, respectfully. We did not run away from the situation.” Separately to the SAT matter, Ms Ng was fined $7400 in Perth Magistrates Court in April for seven building-related offences including taking a 20 per cent deposit from the Taylors instead of the maximum 6.5 per cent for residential work valued at $7500 or more. She also took a 30 per cent deposit from the owners of a Willetton property for a quoted $58,000 worth of work. Because Ms Ng was unregistered, her clients have no home indemnity insurance.