Woolloomooloo unit owners facing eviction over council standoff

Owners who forked out more than a million dollars to buy off-the-plan units are facing eviction after being told they are living there illegally.

Residents who forked out more than a million dollars to buy into an off-the-plan apartment building are facing eviction by the City of Sydney, which says they are living there illegally.

The five apartment owners are caught in the middle of a standoff between the council, an adjacent landholder Robin Kenyon and property developer IPM Property Group, which built the 33-apartment complex at Woolloomooloo.

The bureaucratic nightmare began when the City of Sydney refused to grant occupancy certificates two years ago because it alleged the developer had not refurbished two heritage-listed buildings on an adjacent property as stipulated in the development consent.

Tired of waiting, the residents simply moved into the homes they had paid for — but have now been told they are living there illegally.

The Woolloomooloo block. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“Council has recently received a complaint regarding the alleged unauthorised use of the subject premises contrary to an approved development consent,” the council wrote in an October letter.

Resident Frank Scarf has been living in his unit for the past two years and said the council had a responsibility to help find a solution rather than threa­tening residents with eviction.

“Every time we go to council and ask what they can do to fix this, they say it is not their problem,” he said.

IPM managing director Steven Sroba said he had been locked out of the heritage buildings in May 2019, meaning he could not refurbish them and satisfy the development consent as their owner was trying to extract compensation from him.

“We have this neighbour of ours who is refusing to allow us to satisfy those (development application) conditions unless we pay him an exorbitant amount of money,” Mr Sroba said.

But Mr Kenyon, the owner of the adjacent land, said he had locked IPM out because the developer had used the site as part of the apartment development in a bid to increase the height of the complex and add more apartments.

The consequential restrictive covenant imposed on the remaining land without his consent meant it could not be further developed, and that was why he was now seeking compensation.

“We could have done something with it,” he said.

“Not only have they used our land but we are going to be stuck with not being able to do anything with our ­vacant lot.”

As the standoff continues, residents have called on the City of Sydney to take action to let them live legally in their homes because the council issued the development consent the developer was now unable to fulfil.

A City of Sydney spokeswoman said its hands were tied.

“It is unfortunate that there are five purchasers of apartments who are not able to lawfully occupy the apartments due to this situation, but it is not of Council’s making,” she said.