Renters locked out of troubled Mascot Towers with no ‘foreseeable’ chance of entry

Renters from troubled Mascot Towers building “shocked” by lack of rights as they are locked out of their homes and without their possessions.

EXCLUSIVE

Renters in Sydney’s troubled Mascot Towers building have said they are in the dark and virtually without rights as their possessions are locked away while management changes the locks.

Resident Ms Lim, who did not wish to have her first name published, and her fiance say they have felt pushed about for weeks as strata company StrataChoice and building managers Building Management Australia appeared to quietly try and conceal the dangers of the crumbling tower from residents until the situation was dire, and an evacuation had to be ordered on Friday.

Ms Lim told news.com.au she felt “shocked” at her lack of rights, as all of her possessions are locked away in her home inside the unsteady Mascot Towers building.

Last night she and her fiance heard via news reports that more than half of the units would be made accessible for a short period of time. But the good news did not extend to Ms Lim, who was told no access would be granted to her apartment in the “foreseeable future”. When she asked follow-up questions, she and her partner were met with automated bounceback emails, while the building was barricaded and the locks were changed.

Ms Lim told news.com.au she and her partner received an email at 7.46pm on Friday telling them to evacuate at 8.45pm that night with a deadline of 9pm. The email came after they had already been told by friends and neighbours that the evacuation had made national news.

She said back on June 4, days before she and her partner left for a holiday, they received a notice that their car spot would be taken for “the next 24 months, and you have two days to move your car”.

The couple was told it was “really urgent” that they move their car so beams could be placed across their car spot.

After that, the car spot was taken by newly installed support beams that went across Ms Lim’s parking space and other guest spots underneath the building.

The emails told Ms Lim the support beams related to “emergency remedial works”, but Ms Lim said StrataChoice did not make clear how serious the issues were.

Ms Lim and her fiance were told to evacuate their carpark in an urgent email earlier this month.

“While we were on holidays we received an email saying we could be evacuated at any moment. Obviously, having been on holidays, we were stressed,” she said.

On June 13, another, more urgent email arrived, telling residents that the recent installation of “building propping” had been brought forward at the recommendation of the building’s engineer due to “persistent cracking and structural deformation observed within the primary support structure and the facade masonry”, adding that the “deterioration had been rapid”.

Ms Lim said on Friday afternoon they returned from their holiday to an email with the subject “Evacuation”, with a PDF instructing parts of the building to evacuate.

“There was a lot of people with nowhere to go, and there was no information as to where they could stay. There were actually a lot of people working that night,” she said.

The residents were told to "remove sentimental items" from the building.

Ms Lim and her fiance, who rent an apartment in Mascot Tower, said not being owners has made it difficult for them to access information about their home. They don’t have access to the details of strata meetings provided to homeowners and their leasing agents.

She said she believes documentation of the building’s degradation had been recorded in the minutes of each strata meeting for six months, and that it was up to her leasing agent and landlords to pass the information on, but she said issues were generally not communicated to her and her partner until “the last minute”.

News.com.au reached out to realtors representing tenants in Mascot Towers but they did not wish to make a comment.

Ms Lim said a lot of the people who live in Mascot Towers are renters too, including many flight attendants and people who work for Qantas or the airport nearby.

“We are kept in the dark. Even the meetings going on now with the homeowners, we don’t have any indication of what’s going on, or how serious it is,” she said.

She said during the evacuation residents without family and friends with spare beds were forced into nearby hotels and Airbnb’s because there was no insurance.

Ms Lim said the building has now been barricaded off and the main entrance locks have been changed to the residential parts of the building, as well as the businesses downstairs.

After hearing reports that 64 or the 122 units would be accessible today, Ms Lim contacted her building manager to ask if she could access her property.

Her apartment is located nearby a fire escape, which she believes would now be being used as an access point as the building’s lifts have been deactivated.

“We definitely had our questions and raised our concerns why our apartment was not on the list,” Ms Lim said.

Support props placed in the carparks at the Mascot Towers. Picture: Damian Shaw

“It seemed very strange how the numbers of the apartments getting let back in were in different spots. And the only way back up was to go past our apartment. It’s a bit strange,” she said.

A Mascot Towers Facebook group — “A private group for and behalf of Mascot Towers owners to discuss and share relevant issues and concerns” — was started by one of the homeowners the day after the evacuation.

However when Ms Lim tried to join the group, the administrator told her she couldn’t join.

“I tried to join but the guy that's the admin of the group told me ‘You can’t join because you’re not an owner’,” she said.

“It’s definitely a shock. It’s really hard as a tenant to know what’s going on. It’s really hard as a homeowner to know what’s going on.

“All of our stuff is there. We’re going to be the last people to find out or be notified. We don’t have any direct contact with our landlord, at all. We aren’t allowed to contact them unless it’s through our agent.”

When news.com.au asked StrataChoice about Ms Lim’s apartment accessibility they did not respond to the question.

StrataChoice said it was hoping NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, and the State Government would pay for the residents to be rehomed.

They also planned to establish “web-based information link” to keep residents informed of what is happening with their homes.

The spokesperson said StrataChoice would write to the NSW Premier, asking for emergent assistance for disaffected owners who have to pay the costs of temporary accommodation following the building evacuation last week.

The spokesperson also confirmed arrangements were being made to locate and evacuate any pets still left in the building.

122 units in Mascot Towers were evacuated due to structural concerns. Picture: Damian Shaw

“We have also decided to write to the Premier seeking assistance for owners and

residents who do not have insurance cover to meet the needs of temporary accommodation,” the spokesperson said.

“Reports that we receive as to the building structure will be made available to the State Government to assist progress on this matter.

”We will not be speculating on the cause of the building evacuation. We will wait for the engineers to report. Our priority is to do what we can to assist owners and residents and to encourage the Premier to get the State Government to assist also.”

The spokesperson said the report will be made available to the State Government when it’s ready, In the interim they “will not be speculating on the cause” of the evacuation.

They said their priority is to do what they can to “to assist owners and residents and to encourage the Premier to get the State Government to assist also.”

A homeowner’s group representing owners in Mascot Towers said a small group, in apartments in less affected areas, were permitted escorted access to the building today to collect their belongings.

The collective of owners is currently organising a meeting to discuss further later in the week.

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