Question

In January 2019, Ella entered into a contract with a building company called Building Buddies Pty Ltd to renovate her beach houselocated close to St Kilda beach.Ella wanted to build a full-size tennis court and indicated that she wanted the renovation and construction to be completed by September 2019 so that she could rent out the property for summer holidays. Her property is located in an area considered as one of the premium holiday homes in St Kilda and generally rented out for $10,000 a month. Ella was also planning to enter into a tennis competition in December 2019 and planned to use her tennis court to practise. She paid an admission fee of $5000 for the competition and purchased tennis equipment worth $3000. However, she failed to mention this to Building Buddies Pty Ltd. Due to shortage of materials, Building Buddies Pty Ltd could not complete the renovation and construction until the end of December 2019. Ella was unable to rent out the property during the month of December and also lost the opportunity to participate in the tennis competition.

Advise whether Ella could successfully claim damages for the loss of rental of $10,000 for the month of December and $8000 spent for admission fee and tennis equipment.Use relevant cases to support your answer.