Victorian family business Langdon Building calls in administrators

One of the builders that was shortlisted to assist customers following the collapse of Porter Davis last year has itself succumbed to the pressures of a challenging market, with Langdon Building making the 'difficult decision' to call in voluntary administrators from Cor Cordis in a bid to restructure the company. 

Cor Cordis' Sam Kaso and Shaun Matthews were appointed today to help transition Langdon Building into a stronger financial position.

Founded in Ballarat more than 20 years ago by Pam and Shane Langdon, the builder's head office remains in the regional centre where it continues to build homes, in addition to Melbourne's west and north, Geelong and Bendigo.

"We made the difficult decision to appoint voluntary administrators to ensure the business can move forward so we can get back on-site and finish customers’ homes with confidence and return to pre-pandemic strength," the owners say.

In a statement, the Langdons say that builders across Australia continue to face extremely challenging economic conditions and are still dealing with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, including supply and labour shortages.

They note that interest rate rises have impacted sales due to the inability to obtain finance among prospective homeowners.

"Langdon Building was not immune to these external factors and made the responsible decision to appoint voluntary administrators," the company states.

"This will enable an urgent process to be undertaken with the aim being to restructure of the business and improve its financial position."

Through the voluntary administration process, Cor Cordis will pause construction works whilst urgently assessing the business operations and exploring all options to restructure or recapitalise the business, including through a deed of company arrangement or a sale of the business.

It is understood the pause in building works will impact around 115 customers on-site.

"We’ve commenced an urgent review of Langdon Building’s financial position and have held preliminary discussions with parties to develop a proposal to restructure the business," the administrators say.

"We’ve set up an email address for customers, employees, and creditors. We will provide regular updates to all stakeholders as we work through the voluntary administration process."