New house building contract - what happens if I want to cancel it before the slab has been installed

I have a contract with one of the big project builders in Sydney.
I have deposited the initial 5% of the house cost to the builder for them to start preparing paper work to lodge with council for approval of the plans.

Due to some personal reasons I am not able to continue with the building of this double storey house and may need to cancel the contract.

The building plans have still not gone to council for approval so builder should not have procured any material for this house.
Could anyone please advise me if I will still liable to pay the complete amount of the contract to this builder?

 

Check your contract, there should be something about cancellation there and it likely won’t be the full price of the house

 

Contact your solicitor for advice.

 

I'm guessing that best case scenario will be allowing you to walk away and lose the deposit you've paid.

Or worst case, they make you honour the contract you've signed.

You could have a lawyer look over the contract to see if there's any exit clauses, but contracts are generally designed to be binding.

 

If you are in financial difficulty and can no longer afford a double story (or perhaps the parents-in-law aren’t moving in!) , could you build a single storey?

The building company may be willing to do this without penalising you.

 

The owner cancellation clause says the following:


If I am understanding it correctly then it is allowing to cancel under clause 27 only:

So does that mean that I can't end the contract in any other circumstances?

 

No it doesn't mean that. But you should be getting legal advice asap.

Any reason you can't do that?

 

You need legal advice, urgently.