Anchor Homes review: modular homes, Stratford VIC

Who they are

Anchor Homes is a regional Victorian modular builder with its factory and head office at 55 Industrial Road, Stratford, in Gippsland, and a display centre at 1 Jersey Road, Bayswater, in Melbourne's east. The business started as builders and cabinet makers and, by its own account, added modular homes in 2005 after 25 years in that trade.

The company behind it is Anchor Construction Group Pty Ltd (ABN 15 165 548 907), registered in 2013 and holding the business names Anchor Homes and Anchor Modular. Its team page names Ken Raikes as Director and Lester Raikes as Managing Director.

What they make

Full-size factory-built homes, transported to site in modules and set on footings. The designs page lists 36 pre-designed homes, grouped by 2, 3 and 4 bedrooms, each with a choice of facade (gable, skillion, split skillion and others). They also design custom homes with an in-house architect and take on commercial and holiday-home projects. There's no granny flat range: the smallest home is a 75 m² two-bedroom.

Models and sizes

A selection from their designs page, smallest first, plus the four homes on display:

Price

Anchor doesn't publish prices on its pages. The price list, covering every design delivered to your postcode, is sent after you fill in a form. Their FAQ says delivery to site is included in the base price, though routes that need an over-dimensional truck can carry extra fees.

What's included

Their standard inclusions page is one of the more detailed in the industry. The base home includes:

• Footings to 800 mm with solid block piers, an engineered galvanised subfloor and a finished floor height of 600 mm.
• Plantation pine wall frames and roof trusses, Colorbond roof, fascia and gutters.
• Insulation: R4.0 ceiling, R2.5 walls, R1.9 under the floor, plus reflective roof insulation and wall wrap.
• Aluminium double-glazed windows and sliding doors.
• A 315 L solar hot water system with gas or electric boost.
• A full kitchen with 60 cm Westinghouse oven, cooktop and rangehood, tiled wet areas, and vinyl plank and carpet floors.
• A building permit, a 10-year structural guarantee, six years of domestic building insurance and a three-month maintenance period.
• Built to BAL-12.5 bushfire and N2 wind as standard.

What's extra

• Design and drafting changes, site engineering, non-standard structural engineering, and town planning or DA costs.
• Excavation and re-establishment surveys.
• Septic systems, rainwater tanks and the electrical connection.
• Decks, verandahs, alfresco areas, carports and garages.
• Crane hire, where access needs it, priced in your proposal.
• Upgrades your site needs for energy rating, bushfire (BAL) or wind rating above the standard spec. Each home is rated on its own, and some need upgrades to reach 7 stars.

Where they deliver, and Queensland

Anchor says it designs, builds and delivers across Victoria and southern New South Wales. It holds Victorian registration and lists a NSW contractor licence. It doesn't list Queensland as a delivery area or show a QBCC licence.

That matters here. In Queensland, building work over $3,300 needs a QBCC-licensed contractor, and residential work over that amount needs QBCC home warranty cover. So for an SEQ block, Anchor isn't an option today unless that changes, and you'd confirm it with them first.

Licence and registration

• Victoria: Anchor Construction Group Pty Ltd holds Domestic Builder (Unlimited) registration CDB-U 49832, current to 13 March 2029, and Commercial Builder (Limited) CCB-L 56688. Checked on the Building and Plumbing Commission's practitioner register data, October 2026.
• NSW: their site lists contractor licence 297715C. We couldn't open the NSW record to confirm it, so check it on NSW Verify before you sign.
• ABN 15 165 548 907, active since 29 August 2013, GST registered.

Who they suit

Victorian and southern NSW buyers, regional ones especially, who want a full-size two to four bedroom home from a long-running regional factory, with a detailed inclusions list and a display centre to walk through. Less suited to anyone after a small backyard granny flat, or anyone building in Queensland.

Questions to ask before you pay a deposit

1. Is my postcode in your delivery area, and does my route need an over-dimensional truck?
2. Which of the excluded items will my site need, and can you price them in the proposal?
3. Does my block need a planning permit as well as the building permit you include?
4. Does my site need BAL, wind or energy upgrades over the standard spec, and what do they cost?
5. How much is the deposit, what are the payment stages, and when does the domestic building insurance start?
6. How long from contract to delivery, and is the date in the contract?

How a Queensland buyer would compare them

Use Anchor's inclusions list as a yardstick. It's specific about footings, insulation, glazing and what's excluded, and that's the level of detail to ask for from any Queensland maker. Line it up against a local maker's inclusions item by item, then add the site costs on top: footings, crane, connections, approvals and the certifier. On a hard block those can cost as much as the home.

Then check the Queensland side: who holds the QBCC licence for the job, who pays the home warranty premium, and whether the home is designed for your wind and bushfire rating.

• How to read a building quote
• How to check a builder
• Home warranty insurance in Queensland
• Other modular companies, explained