Maidstone Apartments Sinking: Owners Face Six-Figure Levies

An apartment building that develops structural problems early in its life leaves its owners with a repair bill that can exceed what they paid for their homes. The work is funded collectively, so the cost lands on every unit in the complex.

Owners in that position face a choice between a single large payment and a shared loan repaid over many years, on top of the fees they already pay. Buyers looking at units in larger or older buildings can check several things before committing.

Street in Maidstone, Victoria

Image: Street in Maidstone, Victoria, by Zs9 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What has gone wrong at the complex

The complex is in Maidstone, about eight kilometres west of the Melbourne central business district, in the City of Maribyrnong.

It was built in 2011. In 2022 it was found to have what was described as a serious and longstanding movement problem. That means the building is slowly sinking.

Subsidence is the term for ground beneath a structure settling unevenly. When one part of a footing drops further than another, walls, floors and joints are pulled out of alignment. Damage often appears as cracking well before it becomes a safety issue.

The problem has been known since 2022 and remains unresolved. Reporting by nine.com.au states that it will soon enter its fifth year with no solution.

The figures owners have been quoted

Sue McLean and her husband bought a two-bedroom unit on Eucalyptus Drive six years ago.

Under the repair plan quoted to owners, their contribution would be $374,000. nine.com.au reports that this is nearly double what some residents paid for their unit.

The quote for their building would require the 60 owners to share loan repayments over a ten-year period. Those repayments range from $2,300 to $3,500 per month per unit, on top of ordinary owners corporation fees.

The total cost of remediation could fall between $17 million and $20 million, and could possibly be higher, according to a quote sourced by the owners corporation.

There are 248 units altogether across the whole complex. Documents seen by nine.com.au show that nine out of ten residents say they are unable to afford the estimated payments.

Why the quoted cost doubled

A July inspection found that the complex McLean owns had greater than anticipated degradation. The quoted cost of remediation doubled from $10 million to up to $20 million.

That inspection is why the figure moved. Owners had been working from a number roughly half the size.

The loan the committee is exploring

The committee is exploring a potential strata loan. A strata loan is borrowed by the owners corporation as a whole rather than by each owner separately, and it is repaid through the fees owners pay.

Interest rates on these loans can range between nine and 11 per cent per annum.

To approve the final strata loan, owners must vote on a special resolution. A special resolution is a vote that needs a higher threshold than an ordinary majority. Only 75 per cent of owners need to vote in favour for it to pass.

What residents have described

In January 2025, residents at 50 Eucalyptus Drive were forced to evacuate after a structural engineer deemed the building unsafe, as reported by news.com.au. Residents in all 21 units were told to leave immediately and were able to return a few days later.

Multiple buildings on Eucalyptus Drive and Crefden Street are affected. Units across the street are now listed for sale.

Resident Anna Tiakanas described a wall in her apartment splitting open with a loud bang. She said she moved out after the evacuation. She bought her apartment for $450,000 in 2018 and still owes $300,000 on her mortgage.

A local mortgage broker said he had warned multiple clients against buying in the development. He said interstate and sight-unseen buyers were the unfortunate ones.

Residents told news.com.au the units are not deluxe apartments. They said many owners are pensioners, migrants and first-home buyers who thought the property would be their forever home.

The action being explored with regulators

The owners corporation is meeting with the Building and Plumbing Commission. It has also approached the Building Monitor about its options.

An August town hall meeting heard that original owners have been asked to provide contracts of sale and engineering reports. Current residents want those documents so they can explore what avenues are open to them.

What the industry body says

Adam Promnitz, co-founder of the Strata Owners Alliance, said Australian apartment owners pay some of the highest costs in the world for buildings which do not stand the test of time.

He said a $330,000 levy is effectively a second mortgage on a property which no one else will want to touch. He added that a reasonable person would expect a building structure to last well beyond 50 years.

These owners, he said, are hit with life shattering bills after just 15 years. Mr Promnitz pointed to a tax system that depreciates building costs over 40 years, against $20 million of works for a building just 15 years young.

What buyers should check before buying a unit

A buyer can ask the owners corporation for its records before making an offer. Minutes of recent meetings, the current maintenance plan and any outstanding defect reports all show how the building is being managed.

An independent building inspection is worth commissioning, separately from a standard pre-purchase inspection. Engineers can identify movement, water ingress and structural cracking that a visual walkthrough will miss.

Buyers should also check what the owners corporation has set aside for future capital works. A fund kept low for years often means a special levy is coming.

Within Maribyrnong, buyers can compare a unit's asking price with recent sales in the same building rather than relying on the suburb median alone, because a building's condition affects what its units are worth.

What happens next

The owners now face a vote on how to fund work that has been unresolved since 2022. The outcome will shape what the complex is worth and what its residents owe.

Readers can explore other parts of the state through the Victoria local guide.