The View From The Home Unit
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday March 1, 2007
THE freestanding house on a quarter-acre block is still the dream for many Australians. For others, however, the reality is a home unit - whether from economic necessity or as a lifestyle choice. A million Sydney people live in home units, and the Government plans to double that in the next 25 years. For a decade and a half, the planning catchcry - from Labor and the Coalition alike - has been to maximise use of existing infrastructure through medium-density development. However, such grand plans for medium-density housing, not just in Sydney but across the state, demand effective ways to address the difficulties that beset those who live in strata apartments and town houses.
This week's Herald series Stressed Out has highlighted myriad disputes not only between unit owners, but between them and developers, building managers and executive committees. The series echoes the Herald's weekly Flat Chat column with its sad procession of noisy tenants, inconsiderate neighbours, troublesome pets, incompetent building managers, faction-ridden executive committees and developers dodging their responsibilities to fix shoddy buildings. The State Government has, however, been resolutely ignoring their complaints. Maybe the problem goes back to that traditional Australian dream; perhaps legislators see home units as somehow second-rate and think those who live in them should be happy to settle for less. Maybe the system is so flawed the Government just doesn't know where to begin. Whatever the reason, home unit owners are left to rely on an ineffectual mediation system where difficult disputes can drag on for months or even years without resolution. And the strata title regime is not merely ineffectual, but at times plainly idiotic. For example, while buildings must have a 10-year sinking fund program, it need not be based on any expert advice or ever be carried out. And while strata managers must be suitably qualified, building managers require no qualifications at all. The last major overhaul of strata title legislation was a decade ago. It is time for another. Home units are no longer the three-storey red-brick walk-up of the 1960s, thrown up by small spec builders. Developments now routinely involve scores, even hundreds, of individual titles. Developers can too easily exercise a continuing influence over the executive committees, strata managers and building managers who control these enterprises and their multimillion-dollar maintenance budgets and sinking funds. What chance the unit owners who want to have the developer fix defective work? They are likely to go begging, while developers save their generosity for campaign donations to their mates on both sides of NSW politics.
© 2007 Sydney Morning Herald