The NSW Government has come under fire from a group of apartment owners within the Mascot Towers precinct, who say they have been betrayed by a key Chris Minns promise made on the eve of last year’s state election.

Mascot Towers, comprising 131 units, was evacuated in June 2019 after major cracks opened up. Residents have not returned since, and have been utilising alternative living arrangements paid for by the state government.

A NSW Labor press release from February 2023 told Mascot Towers owners that the party would stand by owners if elected. The press release claimed that the party would partner with the owners to remediate the building by either providing a loan or acting as a guarantor for a loan, guarantee accommodation support and allow council rates to be waived for the evacuation period.

These promises have not come to fruition, and instead the government has opted to sell the tower to a consortium of investors that will see apartment owners walk away debt free. Three quarters of the apartment owners have taken the government up on their offer, but a select few are unhappy with the proposal.

“This is a completely different solution and one that’s broken our trust and our hearts,” apartment owner Derek Williams tells The Sydney Morning Herald.

“Everyone will have lost so much money, and many of us will now be renting for the rest of our lives. When the Minns government wanted our votes, they promised the voters of NSW an equitable deal to help us. Instead, we’re being bullied into accepting something that ruins us.”

The alternative to walking away debt free is uncertain, as the consortium has designs on remediation. Rental support provided by the former Perrottet Government is due to expire in June.

“I’ll have no mortgage but also no property and no money,” says 62-year-old Derek Williams, who purchased an apartment in 2009 after needing to move into a residence with a lift due to injuries sustained from being struck by a car.

“After paying out for all those years, my hopes and dreams and inheritance will have all turned to dust. This is a terrible situation which is wrecking people’s lives.

“I’m beyond angry. To think the consortium that’s buying the building will be able to remediate it and then make a profit out of people’s suffering is appalling, and to think that someone new will end up living in my apartment instead of me … It’s absolutely gut-wrenching.”

Better Regulation and Fair Trading Minister Anoulack Chanthivong claims that the majority of apartment owners have opted to sell the building as opposed to remediation.

“The resolution I’ve directed the building commissioner to find is likely to be the last chance Mascot Towers owners will have to make a decision for themselves rather than having it dictated by courts or the owners’ corporation.”

Chanthivong says the deal was struck out carefully and will prioritise the most vulnerable of owners.