Now is the opportunity for us to improve apartment living standards

In my time as the Member for Melbourne I’ve heard from many residents who, despite loving living in an apartment building, know that better living is possible.

The past few decades have seen the construction of apartment buildings surge in our city. Many people tell me they love living in an apartment – no commute, close to work and study, and with great access to everything wonderful our city offers.

However, apartment living isn’t without its challenges.

I’ve been contacted by so many residents who tell me horror stories about being forced to pay extraordinary amounts of money to replace flammable cladding on their buildings – even though it was government regulation failures that led to the problem. Others have been unable to put solar on their buildings, or electrify and get off gas. Others have been locked into long predatory strata or energy contracts, signed by developers but bad for residents.

On top of this, community planning has not kept up with development, with residents crying out for new schools and parkland near where they live, but governments and developers getting away with not providing them.

Consecutive state governments have allowed this situation to happen because they simply haven’t thought carefully about what apartment residents want and need. And frankly, residents are fed up.

It’s time for change.

The June announcement of a review of owners’ corporation laws is a good first step, but we need to make sure this leads to genuine reform.

The government also needs to go further. For example, legislation like the Docklands Act and City of Melbourne Act are outdated, and dodgy laws are still providing tax loopholes for developers, meaning many don’t contribute to community facilities and open space like they should.

As your local member I am fighting for better rights for apartment residents.

I will be hosting a community forum at RMIT’s Storey Hall at 6pm on September 16 with my Greens colleagues Tim Read and Gabrielle de Vietri. Please come along! More info at ellensandell.com/apartments-forum.

Please also fill in my survey about your experiences of apartment living at vicgreensmps.typeform.com/apartments.

Together we can work together to improve our laws to make apartment living better for all residents. •