Residents in South Yarra are demanding clear commitments from Prahan seat candidates to assist homeowners burdened by legacy building defects.
Residents of South Yarra Square, located at 100 Commercial Road, are confronting estimated remediation costs ranging between AU$16 million and AU$24 million.
Forensic engineering investigations into the complex, constructed between 1989 and 1995, revealed severe structural, fire-safety, and drainage issues. Invasive testing uncovered missing concrete reinforcement, significant deviations from approved plans, and the presence of polystyrene and crushed drink cans packed inside wall cavities.
The push follows a letter dated 9 October from the Victorian Department of Transport and Planning, which confirmed the government would neither provide financial compensation nor meet with residents.
The department acknowledged that recent building industry reforms cannot retrospectively cover defects in older developments.
To date, the South Yarra Square Owners Corporation has spent roughly AU$3.6 million on emergency make-safe measures.
To fund ongoing works, owners have exhausted a AU$1.5 million strata loan at a 9.95 per cent interest rate and begun drawing on an additional AU$11.89 million facility at 10.75 per cent interest over 15 years, compounding existing personal mortgage pressures.
South Yarra Square Owners Corporation Chair Samantha Scherma warned that current laws leave innocent owners trapped in financial ruin over defects they could not have discovered without invasive structural works.
“We bought homes, not financial liabilities of this magnitude,” Scherma said.
“The government acknowledges its reforms won’t help us but offers no alternative. Meanwhile, the debt keeps growing, and every owner is exposed to the consequences if others simply can’t afford to pay.”
Residents have submitted questionnaires to local Prahran candidates, including Liberal MP Rachel Westaway, Greens candidate Angelica Di Camillo, Labor’s Meghan Hopper, Victorian Socialists’ Clayton Doueihi, and One Nation’s Shaun Virsu.
Owners are calling for the establishment of a government-backed Legacy Rectification Fund, stronger developer accountability, and systemic legislative reform.
“We need a Legacy Rectification Fund and meaningful legislative reform, not another round of promises that only protect people buying new buildings,” Scherma said.