New Plan to Help Owners of Broken Mascot Towers Mansion

The Sydney woman is one of 132 Mascot Towers apartment owners who went up in the air after a major structural flaw in the building forced all residents to evacuate on June 14, 2019. His son is two and a half years old.

The apartment remains uninhabitable, the previous occupants are only allowed inside every Tuesday from 7am to 10am, and the owner pays ongoing bills to the building management. increase.

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This is just one of the unjustified costs faced by Mascot Tower owners.

Having moved five times in the first year of evacuation, Sheehan is now renting a house while paying off the Mascot Tower mortgage. The most recent round of rate hikes has been devastating, she said.

“Right now, I have a bill for $75,000 plus interest, but I can’t afford that, so I’ve decided to keep it,” she said.

“I’m only paying interest[on the mortgage]so I’m only working to pay interest and living expenses. I don’t have money.

Owners have access to rental assistance packages ranging from $220 to $400 per night for a three-bedroom apartment, but owners are still struggling.

“It’s very, very stressful and I have a decent life,” she said.

“It’s perfectly fine to be in this situation in a developed country.”

After three and a half years of fighting, a silver lining may be on the horizon.

On Wednesday, NSW unions will help owners pay for repairs by offering low-interest loans or acting as guarantors for loans if they win the March 25 state elections. I promised to

They also plan to enact legislation to exempt accumulated city taxes and extend lodging support packages until the building is livable.

“This is a carefully considered response, and honestly, one that should have been offered three and a half years ago,” said Courtney Usos, spokeswoman for Better Labor Regulations.

“We understand that today’s announcement won’t go as far as some owners hoped, but we are fully committed to working with Mascot Tower residents to fix it.”

Sheehan welcomed the latest move by Labor and said he was “grateful” for the move, but did not believe he would return to Mascot Towers.

“Like many other owners, we want to forget the nightmare,” Sheehan said.

The Greens of New South Wales called on the winner of the March election to buy out Mascot Tower apartment owners before repairing the site and turning it into public social and affordable housing. .

This plan was overruled by Mr. Usos. She said that at current apartment prices, “most owners will lose about 80% of their property” if the government does a buyback.

“We think it’s important that they take ownership of the property and be able to recapitalize the property once it’s repaired,” she said.

Plan Greens spokeswoman Kate Furman said the government needed to “step up and take responsibility”.

“Governments may have finally introduced legislation to tighten regulation of the industry, but they still have a responsibility to clean up the mess and help owners who have been financially bankrupt by historically poor building practices.” she said.

Meanwhile, residents hope the government will extend Mascot Tower’s aid package until June 30, 2023.

The office of Fair Trade Minister Victor Dominero has been reached for comment.

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