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Got this this morning from our friends at Bannerman Lawyers:
The Home Building Amendment Bill 2011 discussed in our urgent 14 October 2011 update has been rushed through Parliament. We were advised that 9 November 2011 was the earliest it would be passed. However it was passed without amendment today.
Some of the worst aspects of the Bill will apply as soon as the Governor gives assent to the Bill. Assent is normally given within about a week. However, all owners corporations should be prepared for the possibility that the assent of the Bill will also be rushed through.
This just shows that the new government is in exactly the same place as the old government when it comes to strata – firmly in the pockets of developers. The haste with which this has been cobbled together and pushed through parliament is unseemly, to say the least.
And this on the same day that figures are released showing more families are giving up home owning and returning to rentals (STORY HERE) – some to Housing Commission or rental assistance.
I may be getting jaded but I can't help thinking they have been lured into the housing market where, we are told, luxury is affordable (strata units are the first choice for first-time homeowners). Then they find it's not as affordable as they were led to believe – levies? WTF are levies? – and have to sell out, often at a loss).
And thus, having had their meagre savings deftly removed from their hip pockets, they are forced to join the rental queues and seek housing assistance while they pay off what's left of their mortgage.
Well done Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts – you make Virginia Judge look like strata's Che Guevara.