‘No way of knowing’ how many strata buildings in Australia could crack
11 JULY 2019 The alarming rise in New South Wales apartment buildings found with cracks is a nation-wide issue that 'has been building over the last 20 years.' Strata lawyer Stephen Goddard from the Owners Corporation Network has told Sky News the discovery of cracks in three NSW buildings has raised alarm bells in the building industry. 'One building is an accident, two’s a coincidence and three is systemic failure,' [...]
How to avoid buying a dodgy apartment
11 JULY 2019 With state planning ministers meeting this month, informed in part by a behind-closed-doors meeting of development “stakeholders” in NSW last week, you can be sure that building defects in their myriad forms will be on their agenda. From the crumbling Opal and Mascot towers in Sydney to the estimated thousands of apartment blocks across the land that are clad in deadly flammable composite, there will be plenty [...]
Danger Sydney apartment defects revealed in Zetland block
10 JULY 2019 A third Sydney apartment block is under scrutiny over building and safety issues after it was revealed its residents were evacuated last year. Residents from the 30 loft-style apartments at 19 Gadigal Avenue in Zetland, in Sydney's southwest were evacuated late last year, while City of Sydney staff had inspected the building in February and found it had "extensive and severe water damage", a city spokesman said. [...]
Zetland apartments abandoned in secret evacuation over ‘severe’ defects
10 JULY 2019 An inner Sydney apartment building remains abandoned eight months after its occupants were evacuated over water and fire safety defects, in revelations expected to deliver a fresh blow to confidence in the city's building standards. The emergence of a third residential unit building with severe defects will intensify pressure on the state government to address concerns about building standards. Cracking forced the evacuation of Sydney Olympic Park's [...]
Lawyer Stephen Goddard on the 2DAY Breakfast Show to discuss the Mascot tower drama
4 JULY 2019 Stephen Goddard, OCN - interview starts 20 mins and 45 seconds into the Breakfast Show. > Listen to the full interview at 2DayFM Stephen Goddard
Boycott: Is it time we had an off-the-plan ban?
4 JULY 2019 The advice from Owners Corporation Network spokesman Stephen Goddard could not have been more blunt: Don’t buy apartments off the plan. His actual words in an opinion piece in the Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney's dirty strata secrets emerge through cracks in Mascot Towers -See post below for full story) were “prudent purchasers cannot buy strata ‘off the plan’ or, given that most defects emerge within a decade of construction, [...]
Mascot Towers incident: Negative stigma could impact unit prices in troubled building
05 JULY 2019 Unfortunate owners in the Mascot Towers complex could see up to 40 per cent of their affected units’ value wiped away due to negative stigma attached to the building. In scenes similar to what happened with the Opal Tower in Sydney Olympic Park, residents were evacuated on Friday night and structural support added to the building in Mascot after it was noticed that cracks in the building [...]
Aussie state government steps in to help stranded Sydney residents after building foundation cracks
3 JULY 2019 SYDNEY, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Residents of Sydney's Mascot Towers, which were evacuated earlier this month due to suspected structural damage, will receive financial support from the New South Wales State Government to cover the costs of temporary accommodation. State government officials said on Sunday that residents of the around 10-year-old building will be able to apply for the costs of daily accommodation for a period up [...]
Minister defends city’s high-rise housing
3 JULY 2019 The Minister for Better Regulation has denied there are widespread problems in the city's high-rise residential housing sector, saying "I don’t believe there is any great cause for alarm for other apartment buildings across Sydney". Announcing an emergency financial assistance package for residents of the beleaguered Mascot Towers block on Sunday, Minister Kevin Anderson said the NSW government would restore "confidence" with "the biggest shake-up of the [...]
Mascot Tower owners crowdfunds to raise $1m
3 JULY 2019 Sydney Mascot Tower owners have started crowdfunding to raise money after an owners' meeting on Thursday elected to raise a special levy of $1.1 million to fix the defective building. The Owners Corporation Network agrees it is time for governments to look at better consumer protections for homebuyers. Strata management also needs another look-in while homebuyers, particularly the growing number of apartment owners, need to continue take [...]
‘No effective oversight’: why the Opal and Mascot Towers cases may be the tip of a very large iceberg
03 JULY 2019 The Mascot Towers crisis is the second seismic shock delivered to the Sydney high-rise residential market in just six months, following the emergency evacuation of residents from the Opal Towers at Homebush on Christmas Eve. The Mascot Towers crisis is the second seismic shock delivered to the Sydney high-rise residential market in just six months, following the emergency evacuation of residents from the Opal Towers at Homebush on [...]
Mascot Towers resident angry over restricted access to strata meeting amid cracks in building
3 JULY 2019 A resident evacuated from a Sydney apartment complex is angry over what they say is an attempt to block them from bringing supporters and legal representatives to tonight's owners' meeting. One Mascot Towers apartment owner, who did not want to be identified, said she asked a colleague who is a lawyer to accompany her to the meeting, only to find out he was not welcome. On Tuesday, [...]
The statistic that could make you think twice about buying in a high-rise
3 JULY 2019 Building defects in the Opal Tower and Mascot Towers have cost residents financially and emotionally, but the Grenfell Tower disaster in London cost dozens of people their lives. However, a new report from Deakin University has revealed 97 per cent of apartment buildings in New South Wales, and 85 per cent across Australia have some form of structural defect. It follows studies by the University of New [...]
Calls for change as apartment owners forced to foot the bill to save unsteady building
3 JULY 2019 A controversy has erupted in Sydney where residents evacuated from the cracked Mascot Towers have been left homeless and told they'll have to foot the repair bill. Building defects in NSW are covered under manufacturer warranty for six years after construction. Following this, the burden of paying for all repairs falls to the owners. A controversy has erupted in Sydney where residents evacuated from the cracked Mascot [...]
Sydney’s dirty strata secrets emerge through cracks in Mascot Towers
3 JULY 2019 The masonry at Mascot Towers isn't the only thing cracking in Sydney this week. The entire edifice of silence and self-interest which has encouraged government and the market to turn a blind eye to the true extent of building defects in new strata developments is crumbling. For 20 years, new residential strata schemes have been plagued with building defects. According to one estimate, 80 per cent of [...]
Mascot Towers unit owners to foot bill for repairs prompting calls for better consumer protections
3 JULY 2019 Owners of apartments in the Mascot Towers development will be left with a hefty bill to repair structural damage as the building is too old to fall under warranty, with property experts calling for better consumer protections. Residents were forced to evacuate the 10-storey Sydney building on Friday night after major cracks appeared in its beams. Temporary building props were installed in the carpark earlier in the [...]
Buyer interest plummets as Sydney’s failing high-rises trigger headlines
2 JULY 2019 Sydney residents were evacuated from their Mascot Towers homes in June after cracks appeared in their walls, in an incident that echoed Christmas Eve’s Opal Tower evacuation in Sydney’s Olympic Park area. The images of confused residents milling outside the troubled towers with pets and belongings in their arms have come to represent New South Wales’ high-rise housing crisis. Nearly all (97 per cent) of new high-rise [...]
Experts warn of more major building defects to follow Mascot Towers drama
23 JUNE 2019 Just six months after Sydney’s Opal Tower was dramatically evacuated, another Sydney high-rise has been hit by potentially devastating cracks. And experts say the nightmare facing residents of Mascot Towers won’t be the last. According to Owners Corporation Network spokesman Stephen Goddard, these incidents could be just the tip of the iceberg. He said the problem was probably far greater than most people realised because many owners within [...]
Minister defends city’s high-rise housing
23 JUNE 2019 The Minister for Better Regulation has denied there are widespread problems in the city's high-rise residential housing sector, saying “I don’t believe there is any great cause for alarm for other apartment buildings across Sydney". Announcing an emergency financial assistance package for residents of the beleaguered Mascot Towers block on Sunday, Minister Kevin Anderson said the NSW government would restore "confidence" with “the biggest shake-up of the [...]
Buying a new high-rise apartment is a risk best avoided
19 JUNE 2019 I write this piece as one of the lucky apartment owners. Lucky not because I managed to break into the apartment market, but because I survived it financially intact.The predicament facing Opal Tower and Mascot Towers apartment owners is only the visible tip of a very big iceberg. So my advice to my kids today, and anyone who'll listen, is this: do not buy a new apartment, [...]
Cracked up: how can apartment buyers guard against a defective purchase?
18 JUNE 2019 With faults and cracks discovered over the weekend in Sydney’s Mascot Towers apartment complex – and similar cracks in Opal Tower six months ago – the spotlight is back on the quality of New South Wales apartment buildings. Research from the University of NSW in 2015 found that 85% of new apartment buildings had defects at completion – mostly with waterproofing and fire detection systems – and [...]
‘Daunting’ reality for strata lot owners after Mascot Towers evacuation
17 JUNE 2019 Strata lot owners could have to pay for building repairs after the Mascot Towers residents were evacuated. Owners Corporation Network President Gary Petherbridge tells Ross Greenwood the problem is systemic. “People shouldn’t be buying off the plan anymore, you’re better off to wait 10 years until the property is sorted out.” > Listen to the full interview at 2gb.com Brooke Corte
Falling through the cracks: Governments slammed over building standards after Mascot evacuation
16 JUNE 2019 Lawyer and strata specialist Stephen Goddard claimed developments could be rushed through by governments eager to profit from stamp duty and other taxes. “Everybody is on a money hit,” Mr Goddard said. “The government wants to keep the builders building because it gets stamp duty … what happens in the end? People who buy in these apartments get it in the neck.” > Read the full article [...]
Mascot Towers unit owners to foot bill for repairs prompting calls for better consumer protections
16 JUNE 2019 Stephen Goddard, spokesman for the Owners Corporation Network — an advocacy group for owners in strata schemes — said owners of apartments in the decade-old Mascot Towers development were no longer covered by the statutory warranty period and would now be left with a hefty bill. "Consumers have nowhere to go in these sorts of situations, there's nobody for them to sue, there's nowhere for them to [...]
NSW off-the-plan buyers to get better protection under new laws this year
11 JUNE 2019 Off-the-plan property buyers will soon be better protected when long-awaited legal changes come into effect this September – and inject much-needed confidence into the Sydney new apartment market, project marketers predict. As a result of changes to conveyancing laws approved by the NSW Parliament late last year and to be introduced in the next quarter, developers will be made more accountable to buyers, and there’ll be more [...]
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