BY KENJI SATO
Sydney residents could be forced to sell their homes under changes to NSW’s strata laws.
The Strata Scheme Management Bill and the Strata Scheme Development Bill passed NSW parliament last week, 27 October, with the new laws to be implemented in July next year.
Under the new laws, strata title holders who own a part of a building, such as an apartment unit, would be forced to sell their property to developers if at least 75 per cent of the other strata owners agree.
Under current laws, 100 per cent of strata owners must agree to all the terms before any sale can take place.
Amelia Christie, the Manager of Research and Advocacy at the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association, told City Hub that the laws leave elderly people vulnerable.
“Older people are more likely to live in older blocks that they’ve lived in for a long time, and those older buildings are being targeted by developers,” Ms Christie said.
“These are people who bought their home on the understanding that they could live in it for as long as they like, but the reform throws that back in their face.”
She said that older people will be pushed out and will not be able to buy back into the area.
“If somebody’s living on a pension and their home is their only asset, they’re not going to be able to buy into a building that’s been revamped.”
“They’ll be pushed away from those areas, their social ties, and the doctors they know, which is crucial for older people, and we fear that these people will be forced into nursing homes prematurely.”
But Chris Johnson, CEO of Urban Taskforce Australia, said that there were enough safeguards to protect elderly and vulnerable residents.
“There will be hotlines and services to help vulnerable people move into new accommodation and adjust to their new surroundings,” he said.
“Overall, it’s a very good move, particularly the issue about changing the number of votes required for unit holders to 75 per cent from 100 per cent,” Mr Johnson told City Hub.
“The previous issue about 100 per cent often meant that one single owner could hold out by ransoming the rest of the owners for a much bigger sum. This stopped a lot of developments happening, which was very unfortunate.”
“The reform enables a lot of old, tired and substandard apartment buildings from the sixties to be replaced without a giant amount of problems. There are many precincts around Sydney, some in the eastern suburbs, some in the middle suburbs, some further west that can all go through a renewal process, which we think is quite important.”
President of Strata Community Australia NSW Greg Haywood told City Hub that he was mostly happy with the reduction and that “old tired buildings” had become a work health and safety problem.
“There’s a lot of risks associated with some of these older buildings. Some of them wouldn’t even comply with the safety regulations. And we need termination just to add more stock for the urban renewal process,” he said.
But Greens Newtown MP Jenny Leong said that the true purpose of the strata reforms was profit, not urban renewal.
“One argument used to defend this proposal is that it is in the interests of urban renewal, that older buildings will be replaced by newer, more sustainable developments. However, there is no requirement that this has to be the aim of a redevelopment,” she said in a statement.
Ms Leong said she feared this may lead to existing affordable housing being replaced by luxury penthouses.
“There is no guarantee that the number of dwellings in a new development will be equal to or greater than the existing number of dwellings,” she said.
“The big winners will be the developers who know that there are big profits to be made and have been pushing for this change. This was a shameful way to deal with significant reforms that will impact on so many in our community.”
President and founder of Green Strata, Christine Byrne, said she was “extremely disappointed” to find no new regulations around environmental sustainability in either of the two bills.
“There is not a single mention of anything to do with sustainability, even though they promised it would be in there years ago,” Ms Byrne said.
She also said she was unhappy with the way that the reforms were enacted.
“Yes, there have been legitimate cases where buildings are falling down and they cost more to maintain than to knock down and build again. But I don’t believe there are enough protections in there where people can lose their home purely for the financial benefit of other owners when there’s nothing wrong with the building.”
Around one quarter of Sydneysiders live in strata complexes, and it is estimated that figure will rise to one half by 2040.
