Are Baby Boomers really the new strata baddies?

Who do you think the fastest growing group of strata troublemakers is?  Pet owners or pet haters? Airbnb hosts or tenants and owners with by-law blindness?

According to some highly experienced strata managers I met recently, some down-sizing Baby Boomers are likely to be ruffling feathers in otherwise happy strata schemes.

Now you might think that more mature residents with a bit of life experience under their straining belts would bring calm rather than chaos to strata schemes.  But according to the people who have to deal with the fall-out when residents fall out, all too often the opposite is true.

The typical downsizing Boomer has probably been king or queen of their castles for a couple of decades at least, living in a place where ownership equals autonomy.

Nobody tells them where to park, when to turn their music down, whether or not they can have a pet and how little their dog’s barking can be tolerated.

They can paint their front door any colour they want, hang their washing wherever they please, or frolic in their swimming pool at any hour of the day or night.

To be fair, these folk have earned the right to make choices from years of hard work, during which they have become used to being listened to by their employees or underlings.

But move them from a very large house into a fairly large apartment and the very idea that they only own the air within their four walls, rather than the walls themselves, is a concept that many struggle to deal with.

It’s a combination of ignorance of strata law (sometimes wilful), arrogance, relative wealth and a sense of entitlement that makes the very worst members of this demographic the kind of neighbour who will have you scanning the internet for somewhere else to live.

Boomers have never lived through a world war (although Vietnam was no walk in the park for some) they’ve bought their homes when property was cheap, enjoyed the bulk of their working lives when wages were rising, haven’t experience a depression and have seen their lifestyles steadily improve over time.

Okay, they have time on their hands so they can contribute to the running of the block. But when they do get involved, some tend to run their buildings as if they were businesses where profit and loss are the only considerations.

That may sound like prudence and good management but there is no balance sheet that itemises happiness, well-being and harmony.  If they are on fixed incomes, watch levies for essential repairs and services being squeezed into submission.

Also, a few too many of them feel that the fact that they own the larger apartments in their block not only gives them more voting power but entitles them to use “common sense” rather than obey by-laws and strata law.

Even worse, once they get a toehold in a block’s committee, they may start clustering, loading it with fellow Boomers who share their world view.

Of course, these are gross generalisations and age and circumstances may have nothing to do with how individuals behave in strata.  Also Boomers have acquired skills and experience of life and business that can be very useful to your community.

But before you elect them to your committee, ask them if they’ve read the by-laws … or are they just using common sense?

The growing and occasionally negative influence of Baby Boomers was discussed by Sue and me, both members of that tribe, in last week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast.

This column first appeared in the Australian Financial review.