Applications are now open for South Australians to access Government support to help fast-track the replacement of combustible panel cladding on eligible private buildings, including residential apartment buildings.
The Combustible Aluminium Composite Panel Cladding Limited Loan Scheme will provide building owners with financial assistance to replace cladding on buildings with an extreme or high South Australian Life Safety Assessment risk rating.
The scheme allows eligible owner corporations to secure a concessional loan with a fixed interest rate and term of up to 10 years, with no application fee – enabling vital safety works to be carried out without the need for residents to cover up-front costs.
Loans of up to $15 million will be offered at the rate of government borrowing and are available to community and strata corporations seeking to start required remediation works or have an existing commercial loan in place and wish to re-finance.
The scheme’s guidelines, announced today, requires
- Remediation works must be completed within five years of commencement of the scheme.
- Loan funds will be drawn down in full within 24 months.
- Loan repayment begins when works are completed.
- Loans only be used for works needed to meet national standards.
At-risk buildings were identified through a state-wide audit conducted following the devastating 2017 Grenfell Tower fire in London and Melbourne’s Lacrosse building blaze in 2014.
The Malinauskas Labor Government is providing a new loan scheme, which will be backed by changes to community title group rules making it easier to get combustible cladding removed from apartment buildings in South Australia.
An amendment is now in effect to allow remedial works to take place with the support of 75 per cent of lot owners – previously, community title groups needed to secure unanimous agreement amongst residents to remove cladding where the cost exceeded $5,000 per apartment.
Ms Wendy Campana has played a key role as the Independent Cladding Co-Ordinator in setting up the loan scheme and will continue to draw on her extensive background in planning and public sector management to assist building owners access financial support.
Council building fire safety committees will assess proposed remediation work to ensure it results in standards and building safety improvement.
Applications to the scheme – administered by the South Australian Government Financing Authority – can be made at safa.sa.gov.au/grants-and-loans/aluminium-composite-panel-cladding-loan-scheme.
Quotes
Attributable to Nick Champion
Our Government has moved quickly to improve the safety of South Australian residents living with the risk of potentially combustible cladding.
We take that risk seriously and are now offering financial support to give building owners the funds needed for critical remediation work.
These concessional loans will alleviate the challenges faced by residents who previously had to decide whether they could afford significant up-front costs.
Attributable to Andrea Michaels
Securing unanimous approval in a community title group – where you can have dozens of individual owners – can be a challenging task at the best of times.
But especially when works are mandatory, and designed to address potential safety concerns, it’s essential that works can be approved and commence in a timely manner.
The changes we are enacting will simplify the process – primarily for those groups who need to address the flammable cladding issue – but also, no doubt, in other instances when mandatory work in apartment complexes is required in future.
Attributable to Independent Cladding Co-ordinator Wendy Campana
I’m very pleased that we are now able to call for applications to the cladding loan scheme and I want to thank all those involved in the development of the scheme’s arrangements.
This scheme will be invaluable for those seeking funding support for their remediation works and the changes to the Community Titles Regulations further supports getting this work done.
