The owners of a Sydney apartment building left unoccupied for years due to cracking have received a proposal to sell their units, clear their strata debts and end the saga.
The owners of Mascot Towers in Sydney's south have been invited to sell to an undisclosed consortium as they continue to incur thousands in legal and strata costs for homes they evacuated in 2019.
The NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler has facilitated the proposal after the Mascot Towers owners unsuccessfully applied to the Supreme Court last year to have the strata scheme terminated.
Under Mr Chandler's proposal, owners would decide whether to sell their own unit rather than the whole property to the consortium.
However 75 per cent of the ownership would need to agree to sell for the consortium to proceed and strata debts be waived.
Making the decision harder will be the value of the offers, and potentially different views among owners about how best to deal with the financial dilemma.
A spokeswoman for the Building Commission NSW said the government has provided $21 million in accommodation and investor support to affected owners.
The Mascot Towers evacuation occurred after building defects were discovered. The owners claimed construction of an underground carpark at a neighbouring building contributed to the cracking. The latter two parties settled for a confidential sum last year.
The Mascot Towers saga began about six months after residents at another Sydney apartment block, Opal Tower, were evacuated due to similar concerns.
The NSW government has since passed laws to make building standards more rigorous and provide care for owners of defective apartment buildings.
