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Hi
I live in an apartment on the Gold Coast QLD
I would like to know my rights to have Use of gym facilities in apartment building I am renting in. When I moved in the owner of the apartment I rent advertised gym facilities in the common areas of use included in the rent of apartment. One month later the body corp took away access for the residence that live on one side of the apartment building but the other side and the holiday visitors can still use the gym.
They took away the fob access so we can not access it.
but the other side both residents and holiday visitors can still use it.
when I asked why they have said it’s a long story and body corp are arguing with the management and it’s going through Stata and will go to court . This has been going on for last 6 months . Do I have any rights to use the gym? I even asked if I could pay per visit but NOThanks in advance
- This topic was modified 1 week, 1 day ago by .
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If this is already going to court, there is not much I can add. It looks like a war between two groups of residents.
Have you spoken to the property manager or the owner of your home? If they advertised the rental property as having gym access, could you ask for reduced rent?
I write from NSW and assume consumer law is similar in the Sunniest State of the Nation.
There are a couple of different ways of looking at this problem.
1. Take the matter to Fair Trading and accuse the landlord of deceptive conduct. He/she advertised facilities available inclusive in the rent which have never been provided. I don’t know what the penalty for that is. That’s something for you to look into and list in your claim for damages; or
2. Estimate the cost you would otherwise need to pay a gym to use similar facilities as often as you would like. Let’s say $40pw as an example.
(a) Go to Fair Trading and sue for $40 x number of weeks you have signed a lease. Seek an order for that amount to be paid to you; also seek compensation for the time and money it would take to travel to a gym, multiple times a week for the duration of the lease, say $25 pw;
(b) So if you lease is 52 weeks long, seek an order for ($40+$25) x 52 = $3,380; and (c) Make clear in your submission that you are a reasonable person and even offered to pay to use the gym ie PAY AGAIN (because you already paid for the gym in your rent), but your offer was refused.After all:
(1) But for the advertised inclusive gym facilities you would NOT have signed a lease at the rent offered; OR
(2) Had you known there were no gym facilities, assuming you liked the building, then you would have only agreed to a lower rent than the advertised rent. Taking into consideration 2(b) above, with no gym facilities you would have considered signing a lease if the rent offered was at least $65 less than what you’re now paying. Or possibly NEVER signed a lease with that landlord.Note: the internal affairs of the building i.e the Owners’ Corp’s (“OC”) decisions on who can or cannot use the gym and any court matters relating to that are:
(a) Out of your control;
(b) Between a landlord and the OC or between multiple owners and the OC; and
(c) Frankly, are irrelevant to your dispute. After all, you contracted with one landlord and not the OC. Your landlord has not delivered what he has charged you for, week in week out. For that he needs to compensate you.Take the matter to Fair Trading and accuse the landlord of deceptive conduct.
Really? Is it a good idea to annoy someone who probably had no part in this decision and may not even know there is a problem?
Ask your landlord to fix the problem or, as Tina suggests, ask them to reduce the rent by an amount that reflects the cost of a gym membership plus a premium for the added inconvenience of having to travel to exercise.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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