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Owner-investors will finally get a slice of the funding that was rolled out for residents of the beleaguered Mascot Tower complex.
On the heels of a further funding extension for tenants and owner-occupiers who resided in the south Sydney building, investors will finally get some relief.
The NSW government will pay owner-investors the equivalent they were receiving in rent at the time of the evacuation, up to a certain cap, depending on the size of the unit. Under the new measures, investors are eligible to receive:
- Up to $600 per week for a one-bedroom apartment
- Up to $750 per week for a two-bedroom apartment
- Up to $1000 per week for a three-bedroom apartment
The assistance is applied retroactively beginning on 1 July 2021 and is available to investors who are Australian citizens who do not own more than three investment properties.
To apply, investor owners should contact NSW Fair Trading, which will assess each application on an individual basis.
While assistance to residents of the towers was rolled out after the mandatory evacuation of the building on 14 June 2019, investors felt they had been left out in the cold, with many of them freeing tenants from rental obligations while still continuing to service mortgage payments.
Assistance to residents has been extended numerous times, most recently earlier this month, with the latest round set to wind up on 30 June 2023.
Under that scheme, the government has been making payments of $220 per night for owner-occupiers of a one-bedroom apartment, $300 per night for a two-bedroom apartment, and $400 per night for a three-bedroom apartment.
Tenants are also eligible for the same payments, provided they have been continuing to repay their normal rent to their landlord. If they receive rent relief from the landlord, that offset is deducted from the tenant’s nightly government package.
This latest round of funding comes just as the residents reportedly reached an out-of-court settlement with Aland Developments, the developer of the neighbouring construction, which they allege caused catastrophic damage to their building.
Following the recent litigation, the owners’ corporation for the building has announced that it is moving to dissolve the strata scheme so that the building might be sold as a development site.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
