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Wow! Did you see Jimmy’s post in the professionals forum ‘Minister takes a baseball bat to strata lawyers’ ?
He’s right. Strata owners are indeed living the nightmare. Brand new buildings that are neither safe nor waterproof. Years of water running down loungeroom walls, bathrooms leaking water to the unit below, hazardous light installations, lifts that brake down constantly, lack of fire protection. The list of health and safety issues reported by our long-suffering members goes on … and on.
Strata owners need to be heard. Who out there in Flat-Chat world has lived in a defective building?? Tell us about it. Lift your voice above the shonky builders baying for bigger profits and to hell with the people left to pick up the pieces. And tell us about the good ones, who handed over a quality product. They need to be held up as shining examples of what’s eminently possible with a little thought and care.
Karen Stiles
Owners Corporation Network of Australia
https://www.ocn.org.au
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I don’t know anyone living in a strata property without major defects.
When you buy into strata, don’t forget your bucket!
Having bought into a newly constructed strata building, above 8 floors, in NSW, and thinking I was doing the right thing (downsizing and allowing my modest home for purchase by a young family), I am horrified to see what the developers and builders are able to get away with without apparent legal redress.
In trying to get defects addressed, and noting that most of them are breaches of legislative requirements, our committee is now at the stage (four years later) of being offered by the last remaining person of the building construction team, the developer, a portion of the amount required to bring the building up to minimum standard. Take it or leave it is the mantra.
Our advisers tell us we are lucky to get that: take it; and, although not said, raise the rest of the money from the owners.
Why aren’t owners of such apartments covered by the basic laws of goods being ‘fit-for-purpose’? In most cases they have outlaid large amounts of money to buy into these building with the promise of quality and satisfaction. It’s disgusting how builders/developers, faced with the request to fix their buildings, can just fold up shop and disappear, to reappear in another form to dupe other unsuspecting purchasers. Or if they do stick around, pay what they want to out of the huge profits they have made rather than what is necessary to address the result of their incompetence.
It seems the changes to the Strata Management Act aren’t going to help owners but enhance support for these builders/developers to enable them to continue as is with further protection! I feel sorry for anyone buying into these new places – and yes, bring your bucket!
The suggestion to name and shame is good, but with the ability for these shonks to start up again under another name makes it difficult. And to refer specifically to the building concerned isn’t something most owners would want to do in relation causing negativity to the specific address.
So what can we do???? In relation to the situation for my committee, should we do as our advisers suggest and then try and get on with life and raise the outstanding money in any way we can? What other recourse do we have open to us? The legal option is ruled out as they consider that we at least are getting something and we would be wasting money to go down that path. Any suggestions?
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