Mascot Towers owners reveal fears ahead of possible $10m first stage repairs

Owners of the faulty Mascot Towers are facing millions of dollars of debt, with some predicting the cost could mean the “end of their lives”.

Apartment owners in the cracking Mascot Towers in Sydney are facing being thrown into decades of crippling debt and some are worried they may die before the situation gets resolved.

Residents occupying the 132 apartments were forced out of their home in June after cracking was found in the primary support structure and facade.

Almost 300 people have had to scramble to find other accommodation, causing considerable emotional and financial distress.

The owners have been told the first of four stages of repairs alone could cost $10 million dollars, a bill which they will be locked in to pay back over 15 years.

Last night the owners came out in force to demand answers from the state government and warn putting this financial burden on the homeowners would set a “very dangerous precedent”.

The apartment owners in Mascot Towers are calling for the government to help them. Picture: Danny Casey/AAP

Veronica and Clifton Baker purchased a top floor apartment when the building first opened in 2008.

The self-funded retirees told news.com.au that if they are forced into paying the cost of repairs they would be in crippling debt the rest of their lives.

“I am 74 and I will be 89 by the time the 15 years is up. So we face the next 15 years of financial hardship after spending all our lives doing the right thing by the government,” Ms Clifton said.

“It is the end of our lives. We will be dead by the time it’s all over and we will just have to leave the problem to our children.

“To even think about it makes me cry.”

Another owner, who didn’t want to be named, is also a self-funded retiree and said she bought her apartment so she could sell it when she needed to move into a nursing home.

“Now I don’t have a home or even a place to sell,” she said.

Residents were evacuated from the building in June. Picture: Jane Dempster/The Australian.

She is also looking after her parents who both have dementia and the stress of the past two months has nearly broken her.

“I have lost a lot of weight. I can’t sleep more than three hours a night,” she said.

“And I am not the only one. All of us are in the same boat.”

At the time of purchasing apartments in Mascot Towers, none of the owners could have known what was to come.

There is currently an inquiry being held into the regulation of building standards, quality and disputes in NSW, which was launched following a series of incidents involving damaged unit buildings.

A submission by the Mascot Towers Owners Corporation outlined the various issues with the building, noting it was still passed for occupation despite its faults.

Fabiano Santos bought his unit four months ago and had no idea that in just two months time he would be forced to find somewhere else to live.

Mascot Towers apartment owner Fabiano Santos (left) with NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Innovation, Kevin Anderson. Picture: Bianca De Marchi/AAP

“I had a taste of my first property for not even two months then the building was evacuated,” he told news.com.au.

“It’s tough to see your dream become a nightmare. You have to wake up every day and deal with this whole situation.”

Another owner, who did not want to be named, said the first few weeks went by in a blur.

“For me, initially I was in shock. The first week went by and I was just on autopilot, I don’t remember half the things that I did,” she said.

“I got on the train one night, I wasn’t staying here anymore but I came to Mascot and I didn’t even realise. I had to get back on the train and go to Central.”

The owners are calling for Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Better Regulation and Innovation Minister Kevin Anderson and new building commissioner David Chandler to attend the meeting on August 22 where they will vote on whether the $10 million first stage repairs will go ahead.