Buyers of apartments in the Esque building in Flemington Road are being asked to pay for their own electricity meters, in a re-run of the debacle that beset the Ivy building just before last year's election.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The demand comes despite Chief Minister Andrew Barr saying in September last year that he would move to ensure the situation would never happen again.
"People should not be given a certificate of occupancy on a property if it is yet to be hooked up to power and water," a spokesman said then, with Mr Barr promising to look at changing regulations after the election.
Buyers are due to settle and start moving into the 90-unit Esque building in July when settlement is complete, but were surprised this week to be told they must pay $563 before Monday if they want an electricity meter.
"If we do not hear from you within 10 days of this letter an electricity meter will not be installed for their property," the letter from Keypoint Law's Bernard Tan said.
In the Ivy case, owners signed contracts on their apartments before July 2015 when Actew began charging for electricity meters. Rather than pay the cost themselves, the developers passed it on to owners.
In the Esque case, the development was released in April 2015, with some buyers signing contracts in December 2015.
Andy Chen, of M and A group, did not respond to efforts to contact him. The Independent Group, which sold the apartments, referred queries to agent Michael Wang, who is overseas and could not be reached.
Mr Barr's spokesman said he could not comment on a specific case, but, "It would be disappointing if the practice of owners being asked to pay for these meters by developers has continued. Most developers have simply absorbed the new charges introduced in July 2015 as a result of the Australian Energy Regulator ruling. Some developers, it would seem, have elected to pass this cost on to new residents."
National metering reforms which begin in December would require energy retailers rather than distributors to install meters, and Mr Barr said it was expected that electricity meters will be installed during construction unless a buyer wanted to install their own.
"For multi-dwelling buildings it will be important that where individual owners make their own arrangements for metering, it does not delay the issue of a certificate of occupancy for the whole building," he said.
He was considering whether further regulation was still required given the move to competition.
