A Queenstown building company has been placed in voluntary liquidation, but the licenser says all homes being built will be reassigned to another contractor.
Fowler Homes Southern Lakes Ltd (FHSL) was placed into voluntary liquidation by licensee and sole company director John Mansfield on Friday afternoon.
BDO Christchurch has been appointed as liquidator.
That came a day after Mr Mansfield told the Otago Daily Times the company had not been put into liquidation and the "rumour mill'' was "obviously in overdrive''.
"Look, the business has been a bit unstable and we have been working through a few things, but by no means have we liquidated ...'' he said on Thursday.
"You see it often when it gets really busy. That's when it happens - not when it's quiet.''
Mr Mansfield said a High Court case involving non-payment from a client had also affected the business.
Fowler Homes New Zealand managing director Tony Hill said 10 homes were being built by the Southern Lakes company and as of Friday all but one had been reassigned to a local Queenstown builder or reached practical completion.
"It is expected that an agreement regarding the final contract, which is near completion, will also be reached in the coming week.
"According to FHSL, this situation has resulted from a number of client debtors defaulting on payments, which has led to a financial situation that is no longer tenable or sustainable for the owner.
"I understand that this will be a stressful time for the customers, contractors and suppliers of FHSL and I will be offering my full support to BDO Christchurch to help it find the best resolutions for all concerned,'' Mr Hill said.
A source spoken to by the ODT estimated Mr Mansfield owed at least $1.2million to subcontractors and suppliers.
The source also alleged Mr Mansfield had taken progression payments for homes to be built, but the work had not been done, and had failed to do repairs on properties the company had constructed.
"It's pretty bad for Queenstown - they were quite a big player here.
"It's going to hurt a lot of people.
"It's appalling [and] it gives Queenstown a bad reputation.''
