Interview on Ratings Tool – Channel 9 news with OCN
Sonya Acton2022-01-27T10:25:51+11:0010 December 2021 - OCN discusses new iCIRT ratings tool on Channel 9 News. Watch clip (2min 36secs) : https://vimeo.com/668793752
The property developer being sued over alleged apartment defects – A Current Affair
Sonya Acton2021-10-25T09:38:46+11:0020 October 2021 Property developer insists his apartments are safe. But try telling that to angry owners who are suing him over alleged defects. > Link to the full story A Current Affair Channel 9
Star Ratings System to Shine a Light on Dodgy Developers
OCN Executive Director2021-10-05T12:19:28+11:005 August 2021 It has a whiff of narcissism about it – “go on, tell me how great I am” – but NSW is about to introduce a voluntary star rating system for new apartment building projects. It’s a slow-burn strategy to eventually freeze the worst players out of the market, but it has been welcomed by owner advocates such as Karen Stiles, executive officer at the Owners Corporation Network (OCN), who says [...]
Meet the man on a mission to restore buyers’ trust in off-the-plan homes
Sonya Acton2021-09-27T12:41:42+10:0024 September 2021 To some, he’s a knight in shining armour. To others, he’s the devil incarnate. But wherever anyone stands on the rampaging NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler, cleaning up the mess of shoddy apartment construction breaking buyers’ hearts and their bank balances, absolutely no one is indifferent. .. At the peak body of apartment-owners, the Owners Corporation Network (OCN), executive officer Karen Stiles says nipping these problems in the [...]
Developer Loses Unit Defect Fight
Sonya Acton2021-08-31T14:40:52+10:0027 August 2021 Residents of a prestigious Strathfield apartment block built by companies associated with husband and wife developers Antoine and Georgette Bechara are the latest unit owners fighting to fix defects including in waterproofing and flammable cladding. NSW Supreme Court documents show the Becharas’ companies tried to pass the blame onto the designers, the architects and the private certifiers Essential Certifiers, whose owner Bernard Cohen had 28 disciplinary findings against [...]
Shonky block shock – Defects in a third of apartments
Sonya Acton2021-08-31T13:15:42+10:0028 August 2021 STRESSED unit owners are reportedly being driven to the brink of suicide by home repair bills reaching up to $50,000, with more than a third of apartments built in NSW in the past six years being listed as having “a serious defect of some kind”. Lachlan Leeming Daily Telegraph Read full article here
‘Nightmare’: Changed orders keep buyers locked into defective Parramatta towers
Sonya Acton2021-08-16T09:53:10+10:0012 August 2021 Buyers of apartments in two 22-storey Parramatta towers with serious defects fear changes to orders imposed on a developer by the NSW building watchdog will strip away their right to rescind contracts and get their deposits back. The purchasers of apartments off the plan in the Imperial complex in Parramatta’s CBD are demanding to know why changes were made to a prohibition order last month. Sydney Morning Herald [...]
First Fifty Developers To Be Risk Rated Using New Tool
OCN Executive Director2022-08-29T10:41:56+10:00OCN MEDIA RELEASE: 28 JULY 2021 Executive Officer at Owners Corporation Network, Karen Stiles said the tool will take the guesswork out of buying an apartment in NSW. "The last thing prospective owners need is to spend their life savings buying into a problematic building, but in the past consumers have had to rely on the developer's word that the property is a safe and sound investment," Ms Stiles said. "This tool [...]
New iCIRT tool will rate home builders and developers
OCN Executive Director2021-07-29T18:56:33+10:0029 JULY 2021 Home builders will get a rating of one to five stars based on how shonky their work is, in a move aimed at restoring confidence in Sydney’s new builds and leaving dodgy developers “nowhere to hide”. Minister for Better Regulation Kevin Anderson said the new ratings system would end the days of people moving into defective apartments. Owners Corporation Network executive officer Karen Stiles said the move would [...]
Skyview apartments developer Toplace agrees to be liable for ‘defects’ for 20 years
Sonya Acton2021-07-27T12:29:45+10:0026 July 2021 Sydney developer Toplace has agreed to be liable for any structural defects in its new Skyview towers complex for 20 years, in order to get buyers into their apartments. The agreement is the first of its kind and is expected to set a new benchmark of accountability for developers across the state. Josh Bavas ABC News > Read the full article here