What you need to know about living in an apartment
News.com.au
Charis Chang
01 July 2017
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The 5 worst things about apartment living
JASON Butler, 36, has lived on one of the top floors of a 19-storey
building in Sydney suburb Wolli Creek for six years, but said he would
much rather be on ground level in his own home.
He was attracted to high-rise living partly because of the price and
its proximity to Sydney CBD and public transport. Mr Butler said he
enjoys the views, the fact that he doesn’t have to worry about
maintenance of common areas (as a renter) and the sense of community.
But there are many things he doesn’t like about being an apartment dweller.
Mr Butler has had to walk up more than 15 flights of stairs twice in
the past 18 months and was recently stuck in a lift with four other
people for 45 minutes.
At other times when he has returned to his building to find the lifts
out again, he has chosen to go out for a meal or do something else
instead for a couple of hours rather than climb the stairs.
“Walking up the stairs is not a big issue — unless you arrive home from
work in a suit and are carrying a few bags of groceries,” Mr Butler
told news.com.au.
The breakdowns are so frequent Mr Butler has even put visitor suitcases
in the car the night before they were due to leave — just in case the
lift was broken on the day.
“Getting down so many stairs with luggage is not an easy task,” he said.
“The lift problems definitely impact quality of life.”
Jason Butler lives in a high-rise in Sydney. Source: Supplied
An abandoned car sits in a visitor spot. Picture: Jason Butler Source:Supplied
As house prices continue to rise many like Mr Butler will have to
remain content with apartment living. For some the reality of life in a
high-rise can come as a shock.
Here are some of the factors to consider before you aim sky-high.
When the lights go out ...
High-rise living can become unbearable if elevators aren’t working and
this could become an issue if blackouts become more frequent.
Those premium top-floor apartments suddenly seem less attractive if you
have to climb 20 flights of stairs to reach your unit, only to find the
airconditioning is also offline.
Property valuers have already warned the threat of more frequent
blackouts could lead to a drop in apartment values as many high rises
doesn’t have back-up generators and only cater for emergency and exit
lighting using small batteries.
Installing a back-up would likely be very expensive, so it’s important
for owners to know and understand what procedures are in place in their
buildings.
Target for mail theft
Rows and rows of letterboxes are like candy to wannabe thieves looking for documents to take over people’s identities.
Mailboxes have become an easy target for thieves who find into them
relatively simple to break into and some have even managed to get hold
of master keys to access the mail of every apartment.
Complaints about mail theft in apartments have increased in recent
years and there’s been a push to get mailboxes moved into apartment
foyers, although this has been opposed by Australia Post.
Recently a Deliveroo driver was caught on CCTV stealing a parcel out of
a letter box on their way out of a Sydney apartment block.
Bringing up baby
Apartment living is becoming a more popular among families but
governments and developers have sometimes been slow to cater to this.
In NSW, there’s not enough schools in certain areas because of the
“foolish assumption” that people who live in apartments don’t have
children.
The government has now announced funding of $4.2 billion to build new primary and secondary schools to meet a chronic shortage.
High-rise living can be attractive for many families because the
buildings are often close to the city and a short distance from museums
and other activities, supermarkets or work. There’s also less
maintenance required for gardens or exteriors.
But parents also need to deal with the dangers of city traffic and kids
playing on balconies several storeys off the ground. Lack of space can
also be an issue if you have a toddler so getting outside is essential.
It’s more difficult to have large gatherings and living in the city may
also deter parents who don’t like using public transport, to make a
visit.
Where's the serenity?
Living in the same building with hundreds of others is bound to be a bit noisy and not as private as living in a house.
In fact, loud urinating at night has become one of the most common complaints to the NSW Department of Fair Trading.
There has been a 33 per cent increase in complaints generally to the
department in the past year, according to The Sunday Telegraph.
Other bugbears include showering at night, children playing in common
areas and even one complaint about dog droppings being hosed daily off
an upper-story balcony.
In order to address some of the more annoying aspects of apartment
living, last year strata laws in NSW were reformed to include changes
such as allowing smokers or those enjoying a barbecue on the balcony to
be fined if smoke wafts into another apartment or common area.
Bylaws can also be adopted that ban things like barbecues on balconies.
“So if you are someone who enjoys a barbecue for dinner in summer, you
need to look at the bylaws very carefully before buying,” Ms Stiles
said.
“In America they call (owners corporations) cooperatives and this is a
warning about what people are getting themselves into. It is a
cooperative lifestyle, you need to consider your neighbour and live
with neighbours that might have different points of view on pets,
parking and parties.”
Dealing with noisy neighbours is just one of the pitfalls of living in an apartment.
Dealing with noisy neighbours is just one of the pitfalls of living in an apartment. Source: News Corp Australia
No room for your furry friends
Pet ownership is also pretty difficult if you live in a high-rise with many developments banning dogs and cats.
Last year, strata reforms in NSW changed the default bylaws to allow pets but strata schemes can still ban them if they want.
In the event of an emergency
Ms Stiles said many buildings don’t have evacuation plans and this can
be problematic especially for those with limited mobility or a
disability.
“I do know of a couple buildings that do have a plan, and a register of
people who need to be assisted out of a building but I think it’s quite
rare,” she said.
“Many buildings don’t have anything but they should have a meeting
point and do practice runs so people know what they are doing and are
mentally prepared.”
She said anyone moving into a building taller than three storeys should
check whether it has evacuation plan and whether one can be implemented.
Renovations can be difficult
In recent years, unit owners in NSW may have been forced to get
approval for even minor cosmetic changes such as installing a picture
hook, although some of these have now been relaxed.
But owners do still need to get approval for renovations that change
the external appearance of the unit, for example installing an air
conditioning unit, and possibly even for things such as installing
timber floors.
As the Grenfell tragedy has shown, decisions about external cladding or
other features are often made by body corporates, which can need
agreement from a large number of people to make changes.
You could be shelling out
If you want to buy an apartment, Ms Stiles recommends doing a strata
search of the scheme to see if there are any large repairs or
maintenance on the horizon, and if meeting minutes reveal any potential
disputes.
Repairs can be costly, for example, upgrading a lift in a 40-year-old building could cost a quarter of a million dollars.
It was also important to research the building to check if it was constructed by a reputable developer and builder.
Another cost to factor in is the cost of the quarterly levy.
“If you live in a complex with a pool, tennis courts or gym, you will pay for them whether you use them or not,” she said.
“This can be a substantial annual fee you need to consider especially if you on a fixed income.”
Fire safety has also become a focus after the Grenfell fire in London
and while Mr Butler said he was confident Australia’s building
regulations were more robust, there was no question trying to get out
of an apartment building would be more difficult than evacuating a home.
But there’s also the issue of fire alarms, as Mr Butler says alerts go
off fairly frequently in neighbouring buildings and also in his own
building.
“There’s constantly fire alarms going off in Wolli Creek, people are always going down stairs and being evacuated,” he said.
Security can also be an issue and Mr Butler said many cars in the carpark had been vandalised or broken into.
“Some people see apartments as being more secure but in Wolli Creek we
have had a large amount of incidents, I think security varies,” he said.
He said he thought thieves were attracted to apartment complexes because there were lots of cars and storage cages to target.
Mr Butler has also been frustrated by how hard it is to enforce bylaws.
Although his apartment block doesn’t allow pets, unlike other
neighbouring buildings, he always sees people with them. There’s also
an issue with residents parking their cars in visitor spaces so genuine
guests have nowhere to park. Some cars have even been left in these
spaces for five years and not moved despite having no licence plates
and being stripped for parts.
Owners Corporation Network executive officer Karen Stiles said
committees should be enforcing bylaws and they do have the power to
remove abandoned vehicles in common areas like visitor parking,
although not from private spaces.
“But the important thing to remember is these are unskilled volunteers,” she told news.com.au.
These committees collectively manage a trillion dollars worth of common
wealth in Australia, with some committees overseeing funds worth $2
million or even $5 million for bigger buildings.
Yet Ms Stiles said there was a lot of apathy among apartment owners about who was managing these funds.
“Most young people have got careers and families and the older
residents think they’ve done their stint looking after the family home
and think it’s someone else’s problem,” she said.
“The position is voluntary, it does require time and sometimes it pits you against your neighbours, which is very uncomfortable.
“There’s a lot of apathy and as we get more investor owned buildings that situation is going to get worse.”
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