I live in a large apartment complex in NSW and we had this exact issue last year – a large bill for mandatory defects. Our complex has a wide socio-economic/socio-demographic profile; owner/investors, mortgage holders, outright owners, families, retirees, professionals, new home buyers…
When financing options were discussed, the loan plus levies idea was floated. In our instance, even if the regulations weren’t a barrier, there would be practical issues. Our works will take place over a year or years. We assumed that owners who paid outright would want to have the works to their apartments completed first which for our complex, isn’t a practical possibility.
Our complex ended up going with a loan, but agreeing on loan terms was vexed; the duration of the loan made a massive difference to the quarterly repayment schedule, but a longer term and lower repayments meant a big difference in the total amount of interest paid. Both of these affect those needing/wanting to sell, not to mention selling in the midst of construction works.
We even considered whether we could have two different loan terms for the cashed-up and non-cashed-up owners, but met the same obstacles.
Loan terms were eventually agreed but it wasn’t unanimous, that’s a risk of buying into a strata plan. The financial effects are very real and there have been a few sales, but that’s the way the complex crumbles. Or doesn’t.