A liquidator has been appointed to Meathamatic, a company building a housing development in Co Meath, after a meeting of creditors in Dublin.
Meathamatic agreed to the sale of 14 of 16 houses in the Ringfort development in Rathmolyon to families in 2021 for around €275,000 each.
The prospective buyers paid deposits of nearly €30,000 to the company and entered into contracts to buy the homes.
However, by 2023, the surge in construction costs had left an estimated gap of around €1 million between the sale prices of the homes and the cost to complete the estate.
The decision to liquidate the company puts deposits paid by prospective buyers for the homes at risk, and reduces their chances of being able to buy and move into them.
Speaking at the meeting, company director Dr Joe Elias said that Meathamatic was affected by "external issues" including the Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Dr Elias also said the interest rate the company was paying on a loan from Home Building Finance Ireland (HBFI) jumped significantly, from 6% to 11.5%.
In addition, the company previously blamed a 30-40% increase in construction costs for its financial difficulties.
Many of those who paid deposits say that in 2023, they were asked to pay €60,000 more to fund the completion of the homes in Rathmolyon.
Following a Revenue audit last year, during which Dr Elias said a "significant tax liability arose" and Revenue demanded repayment of VAT of around €523,000 from Meathamatic, the decision was taken to liquidate the company.
Investment firm Spudmuckers Ltd, of which Dr Elias is also a director, is reportedly owed between €5 million and €7 million by Meathamatic and is putting the company into liquidation.
It is understood that the homes in the Ringfort estate are structurally complete and connected to utilities.
At today's creditors' meeting in Dún Laoghaire, a vote of creditors appointed Colin Gaynor as liquidator.
However, some creditors at the meeting voted for another liquidator to be appointed and then called for joint liquidators - a request that was denied by Dr Elias in his role as Meathamatic Director.
Speaking afterwards, Representative for Ringfort residents Damien Harper said: "It would have been good and allayed everybody's concerns if an independent third-party liquidator was also in here along with Mr Gaynor to carry out a review and an investigation into the affairs of the company.
"We had suggested that Myles Kirby and Colin Gaynor be appointed as joint liquidators but that was roundly rejected by Joe Elias ... I can't understand why that would have been shot down," he added.
Prospective Ringfort resident Elma Beirne said she and her husband John "have been waiting for five years to move into our homes".
"I'm now expecting my second child, due in a few months' time. The fact this is still ongoing and nowhere near to being resolved.
"We've a lot of cash tied up in this ... €60,000 my husband and I put into our home. I don't know where this leaves us now," she said.
Another affected couple, Ciara Ryan and Daniel Kelly, used the Help-to-Buy scheme to pay their €30,000 deposit.
The couple, who have a 16-month-old child, also paid up to €15,000 for flooring and furniture for the house they had agreed to buy, but that is now in storage.
"We've been renting and we've moved back in with Ciara's dad now, because our contract has run up on our lease," said Mr Kelly.
Ms Ryan added: "People are often saying to us 'God you're lucky you have somewhere to go'. We appreciate that but it shouldn't be that way. We want to be first-time buyers, we want to move into our home. We want to pay for our home and are being prevented from doing that."
