Dream home built on the wrong block | A Current Affair

A dream home on a dream lot, then they learnt it was on the wrong block.Dave and Mel have spent six years and all their money moving it back to their piece of land, but now they can't afford to move in.

High on the hill, it's the house that's finally home.Dave and Mel, finally you've done it.

Yes, we've done it.We have.

It looks a bit shaky.It's not all in one piece.It sits precariously on diesel drums.But at least the little house with the wanders has found its right address.100 metres away, next door.Anyway, Mel, is home where the heart is?

No, home is where the broken heart is.Exactly.

Dave and Mel Moore pulled the trigger on their grand plan six years ago.They bought their land here in Camperdown, Western Victoria, purchased a house and placed it strategically to drink in those voluptuous fistas.Trouble is, they moved their little house onto the wrong prairie, right in the middle of the block next door.And the bloke who owns it was anything but accommodating.

The first thing he said to us is, oh great, I'll get a free house out of it.

What did you think of that?

Oh, I said to him, I'm sorry, but the house isn't yours, the house is ours.

The issue for the Malls, of course, was that the land wasn't theirs.So they pleaded with a fellow next door, who lives in Queensland, to swap blocks.Made sense, because they're the same size.Dave and Mel claim the owner agreed to the swap.Hallelujah.Then...

He changed his mind and said he didn't want to swap anymore.

It became the gnarly knot that could only be untangled by lawyers.Dave and Mel agreed to pay both sides legal bills $30 ,000, take out 160 stumps, remove all electrical and plumbing, tear down trees and restore the block to its original state, which is what this tractoris doing.I can't describe it.

It was a weight lifted off our shoulders, seeing it cross that line.

The Great Divide.

Oh, definitely.Definitely.

So the poor old house has finally come to rest on its rightful property, and that should be the end of this sorry saga, not by a long shot.The couple can't afford to move in.They can't afford to renovate.They're broke.Mel has $200 left in her super.

Drained us financially and mentally.Definitely.

Absolutely.Here's the dream home that Dave and Mel can't live in.And there's the home that Dave and Mel can now live in.Behind the home they can't live in.

We're back to the start really.So it's going to cost about another $100 ,000.

$100 ,000?

Oh yeah.

Just to move in?

Yep.

Do you want to hear something even more ridiculous?Dave and Mel have even had to go to the local council to get a camping permit to live on their own land.At least it's the right block.

Is this the front door or the back door?The back door.And what's the condition of the house inside?We're too frightened to go inside.Why's that?Well, just until it's all back on stumps.

So it's not safe?

No.Even with the right house now on the right block, the moors are still marooned and still upset that no one, including the real estate agent and the council, which signed off on permits on the wrong block, has taken any accountability.

The council, the power company, the water company, they've all given us the certificate of compliance to say that everything's correct.

But on the wrong block.

But on the wrong block, but nobody's taking responsibility for it all.And I don't see why we've had to pay for everything.

Life might have them over a barrel, but you get the feeling if anyone can get through this, it's Dave with stage four liver disease and Mel with her MS. They live on the sunny side of the street.So what stage are you going to be able to sit on your front balcony and have a G &T and look at the sunset?

I don't know the answer to that question actually.Where does that money come from?

We just have to start saving and just cut back on a lot of things we're doing and just save what we can to try and get the house stumped so we can start getting it to occupancy.

Until then, you're stumped?

Definitely.Yep.

Crazy isn't it?And we really feel for you Dave and Mel.