A couple who spent more than $500,000 buying land and building their forever home could be evicted after learning the house is located on the wrong block.
Dave and Melanie Moor paid $300,000 for a five-acre block in Camperdown, in south-west Victoria, in 2021, with plans to retire there.
After gaining the relevant permits, they spent more money, installing a driveway, and moving a relocatable house onto the block, with connecting power, water and a septic system.
But three years later, the Moors got the shock of their lives when they found out they mistakingly built their home on the property next door.
Their neighbour wants them out, and the 14 days they gave them to vacate the property ended on Tuesday.
The former landowner had divided the block into two lots. The Moors bought block one, but their home was placed on block two – which had been sold to another buyer.
At the time the Moors ‘trusted’ the council, contractors, real estate agent and conveyancers to ensure all boxes were ticked and that the project was completed smoothly.
‘We didn’t think it was true, because the council signed off on everything, so we thought it was a scam,’ Ms Moor told A Current Affair.
Dave and Melanie Moor (pictured right) paid to relocate a pre-existing home to their new block of land in Camperdown, only for it to be erected on the wrong block
‘It’s the pickle of all pickles. This was going to be our forever home, and now it’s our never home.’
A spokesman for the real estate agency told the ABC it had not made any false or misleading claims, and that it was the Moors’ responsibility to verify which block of land they owned before starting works.
The agent showed them the property in August 2021, when it was still part of the larger eight-hectare paddock and had not yet been subdivided.
The real estate agency spokesman said it was ‘conceivable that some confusion arose on (the Moors’) part during that period’.
The Corangamite Shire Council even approved the Moors’ building permit in April 2024.
The permit documents included an aerial photo showing that soil samples were taken from the wrong block.
The Moors said the council should have noticed that error when reviewing the permit documents.
In August 2024, Mr Moor took a call from the council telling him to stop work and seek legal advice after staff realised construction was happening on the wrong block.
The couple’s home (pictured) is not on the correct block of land
The owner of the block that the Moors mistakenly built their house on lives interstate and was oblivious to the construction on the land.
‘It was a great shock to the owner to be notified by telephone that someone else had moved their house onto their land,’ their lawyers said in the statement.
‘They have been very patient and have attempted to work with Mr and Ms Moor over a considerable period of time now, but it appears that the matter is now at an impasse without the assistance of lawyers.’
The Moors said they could not afford to move the house to their block, and the contractor who originally moved the home said it may not survive another relocation.
‘We’ve spent over $500,000 on this,’ Ms Moor said.
‘It’s our life savings, we’ve got nothing left.’
Corangamite Shire Council declined to comment as it’s now a legal matter.
