In this week’s podcast we chat about a report which reveals that one-third of 500 unit blocks inspected in a survey had serious defects, from leaking bathrooms, to fire safety issues..And there’s the stomach-churning claim that some units face remediation bills that will cost more than half the purchase price of the apartments.We also look at a small scale developer who has been ordered by a court to pay more than $1million in compensation, plus legal costs, after their attempts to blame everyone else for the problems in their property fell on deaf ears.LISTEN HEREWe touch briefly on the revelation that the two tradies per apartment limit on apartment renovations doesn’t apply to unoccupied units – they can have as many as they want provided they don’t go over the one worker per 4sqm limitAnd we examine how out-of-date community title laws have stymied pet owners’ attempts to enforce the new by-laws on pets.Finally, we follow Sue’s story on Pinchy the crayfish whose rescue and survival is worth of Disney movie.TRANSCRIPT IN FULLJimmy 00:00We're going to be revisiting some well-worn paths this week, but each of them has a bit of a twist, Sue Williams.Sue 00:07They certainly do!Jimmy 00:08A couple of stories about defects. We're going to be looking at renovations in apartments during lockdown (again), because it's even worse than we thought. We're going to be looking at pets, but not in strata; in community schemes. And, we've got a happy little story, that's got nothing to do with apartments really, except that you wrote it. It was written in an apartment.Sue 00:36That's a tenuous link, isn't it, really?Jimmy 00:38Yep. It's about as strong as I can get. I'm Jimmy Thomson. I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review.Sue 00:47And I'm Sue Williams. I write about property for Domain.Jimmy 00:49And this is the Flat Chat Wrap.[MUSIC]JimmySue, one positive story for apartment owners, regarding defects that you've dug out and another absolutely horrendous one.Sue 01:14Oh, yes. What do you want first, the good news or the bad news?Jimmy 01:17Give us the good news first.Sue 01:19Okay, well, residents in an apartment building in Strathfield in Sydney, won their fight against the developer about defects. There was lots of defects (alleged), in this building, including bad waterproofing and flammable cladding and they won in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled against the developers, after the developers pointed to everybody else and said "it's their fault; it's not our fault. It was the designers, it was the architects, it was the certifiers." The Supreme Court of New South Wales disagreed and said it was their fault, so they've ordered them to pay all the costs of remediation and the legal costs that the strata owners incurred in their fight.Jimmy 01:59So, what's the total cost to the developer?Sue 02:03They're having to pay just over $1.2 million, to get all the defects fixed and they're also paying the cost of $183,000 that the unit owners incurred, during their fight.Jimmy 02:17Are we going to name these developers? I think we should.Sue 02:20Right. Omaya and Al Maha. Okay, well, they're a husband and wife team; Antoine and Georg
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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.
