Rinnah Roque worries the view beyond her landscaped front garden will remain a construction site.
The 60-year-old, committed to a growing community in Sydney's north-west, bought a three-storey townhouse off the plan in Box Hill.
Across the road, a hive of builders were working on 47 homes as part of a project from the developer Bathla.
"I worked so hard to be able to buy a property for my mum and myself," she said.
But for the past two months, the symphony of construction noise has been replaced by silence.
"All of a sudden everything stopped, and what's so frustrating is everything was just left behind," she said.
The residential development dividing Hynds Road is one of hundreds caught up in the $3.4 billion collapse of Bathla Group.
And it is among dozens of sites that were part way through construction when the money stopped flowing.
In some cases, the private equity companies that are owed money by Bathla have taken control of the projects they invested in, and are racing to find builders that will finish them.
But interviews with experts and industry stakeholders reveal that builders may be reluctant to guarantee the work of cash-strapped Bathla, posing the risk some sites could "languish".
Bathla declined the ABC's requests for interview and comment.
Hurdles to finishing Bathla's projects
The quality of the work already undertaken at Bathla's construction sites would be difficult to assess by builders considering finishing the projects, said Lyndall Bryant, a leading property economics professor at Queensland University of Technology.
"If you're a builder coming into a job that's half-finished, you don't want to be warranting the work that someone else has done," she said.
"If the concrete's been poured, you don't want to be saying, 'Oh yeah, I guarantee that that concrete's been done properly.'"
She said reviewing plumbing or electrical work would be challenging if walls were already erected.
A private equity company that seized control of one of Bathla's part-built developments declined to be named, but told the ABC the builders it was talking to were being cautious, but it remained confident one would be appointed.
Urban Taskforce Australia, a group lobbying for developers and equity financiers, said it believed most of the projects would be completed.
"Where I would be concerned is if we were to find developments with substantial defects, where basically the cost to rectify those defects is greater than the value of the land with an approval on it," chief executive Tom Forrest said.
"I can't see that being the case in lots of occasions."
Impact on home values
Bathla was forced to stop construction at 45 sites after it was placed into administration in August, according to documents filed by the administrator Teneo to the NSW Supreme Court.
About a dozen of these sites are situated in Sydney's west, in areas such as Marsden Park, Box Hill, Rouse Hill and Pemulwuy.
Many are in new areas, clustered together.
Professor Bryant said the delay or failure of a project in these locations could leave communities "fractured".
"Those areas really could become almost wastelands for a number of years," she said.
"Unfortunately it's a negative impact on property values — and that's for the people who already live in those communities."
Ms Roque said if this scenario were to eventuate in Box Hill, it would be "a horror story".
"That will impact probably us mentally and even the whole family," she said.
Urban Taskforce Australia said any drop in property values would be a "short-term blip".
"My hope is that the fracturing of the community doesn't happen because ultimately the market will come in and complete those homes," Mr Forrest said.
Councils could be left footing the bill
Two Sydney councils are among the most exposed.
Construction had stopped on eight Bathla projects in Blacktown Council, and at four sites in The Hills Shire Council.
Both councils are owed money by Bathla, and have registered as creditors with the administrator.
The councils could be left spending more money while bringing in less.
They might have to spend money building infrastructure such as roads and sewage that Bathla has yet to contribute to the developments, Professor Bryant said.
"Blacktown Council is at risk of having to spend significant money on infrastructure for projects that are on the fringe that might only service a few people," she said.
And they would be missing out on money they anticipated from rates, unless these developments are finished.
"I think that they should be concerned at Blacktown City Council because any major hiccup like this means delay in their cash flows," Mr Forrest said.
Blacktown Council declined a request for interview and comment.
The Hills Shire Council Mayor, Michelle Byrnes, said the collapse of Bathla was "another hit to public confidence in the construction industry".
"I'm devastated for the buyers across Sydney who have been left stranded by Bathla's collapse," she said.
Private equity investors race to recoup investments
Some investors have seized control of the Bathla sites they invested in and are racing to finish the projects.
One of them said the goal was to break even, with any profit considered a bonus.
Asian private equity company PAG has already appointed the builder ParkView to its 300-unit development in Pemulwuy.
Other private equity companies told the ABC they were in discussions with builders.
Ray White Capital, which owns the site in Box Hill, said it expected the site to be finished before April 2027.
Leda Group has taken control of a 240-unit development in Marsden Park, and said it was in advanced discussions with a builder.
But not all of Bathla's sites have been taken over by a creditor.
Among them is a 49-home housing estate in Lochinvar in the NSW Hunter Region.
The restructuring and insolvency firm Mackay Goodwin has been appointed to "assess available options".
