00:00 Sharon and Steve Harrison are counting down until their day in court.
00:06 100 days to go then.
00:07 It can't come soon enough because every time it rains, their property floods.
00:12 We have a creek-like flow onto our property, even if there's a few millimetres of rain.
00:17 They say the problem started when their neighbour undertook works on his driveway.
00:22 It's been flowing so long that this has rotted.
00:24 But after they couldn't solve the issue with him directly, they took it to VCAT.
00:28 Their hearing isn't until February next year, three years after they first lodged an application.
00:34 They've hired a lawyer and expect to fork out $100,000 in legal fees.
00:39 I think actually that they hope that you would give up and walk away,
00:43 but we can't because we have no other way of addressing this issue.
00:48 The average time for a building case to be finalised at VCAT has jumped nearly 20% in the past financial year,
00:55 with Victorians waiting about 10 months to have their property issues dealt with.
01:00 The delays are getting longer and it's leading to a lot more stress
01:03 and a lot more matters just settling earlier for amounts that they would not necessarily have otherwise settled for
01:10 because people are just so desperate to get out of it.
01:12 VCAT says it's keenly aware of the impact the delays are having on many Victorians.
01:18 It's adding more staff to try to clear the backlogs and aims to finalise all of its residential claims by late next year.
01:25 What is good news in that list is that we have 21 new members coming on board in the coming weeks.
01:31 Those interviews have been completed.
01:33 The government's also making sweeping changes to the state's housing regulations,
01:37 including to fast-track applications for big developments.
01:41 But lawyers say this could add to the delays,
01:44 fearing quick builds and defects could spark even more VCAT complaints.
01:49 It's extremely frustrating.
01:51 I wouldn't be going to VCAT unless it was a last resort.
01:55 But for Sharon and Steve, the long wait continues.
01:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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