It is a terrible situation when you buy a property with invisible flaws in its construction. Usually in Australia this is covered by government departments that oversee the construction of the buildings and put pressure on the company to fix them. Recently, however, it has come to light that many buildings cannot be repaired and builders have no responsibility for the mess they create for buyers.
A radio show did a story about high-rise apartment buildings, and the list of buyers’ complaints was long and horrendous. It seems like people only have about a month to raise certain issues, and after that, the company is trouble free. That would seem reasonable under normal circumstances where one can do a visual check on things and approve.
However, Sydney happened to have a long dry spell and during that time many apartment buildings were erected. Then came a month of rain in a day or two and all hell broke loose for many apartment dwellers. His beautiful house was suddenly flooded with rainwater.
A gentleman said that he had drawn about 80-120 liters of water from a dam that he had to erect in his living room. His entire apartment was flooded before he could build the wall and this ruined the carpets and furniture.
With the Grenville Towers episode in London showing the effect of poor building materials and the danger to tenants as a result, one wonders if the same could happen here. The government wondered the same thing and sent inspectors to verify. Indeed, some 1,200 apartment buildings have the same type of cladding that has illegally entered the country.
Money is the main goal of construction companies, and over the years, standards have slipped so much that you have to think twice before buying a home. With many apartments now sold off plan, meaning before they are built, the future for any buyer can be one of distress and stuck with something with no resale value.