In the fallout from the state poll we hope that Labor politicians remember that they have been elected to represent people.

Both major parties disappointed the electorate by failing to articulate any policies to help residents in strata communities - all 1.6 million of us whose voices have not been and are not being heard.

Neither the Labor nor Liberal pre-election platforms made any mention of residents.

A flyer letter-boxed in Melbourne district from Premier Andrews contained nothing about issues affecting inner city living.

Mr Andrews also turned down an invitation to the We Live Here "meet the candidates" forum.

The Premier previously declined an invitation to attend our launch and has refused numerous other requests to engage with us over the past three years.

The Premier's victory speech similarly did not mention inner-city residents.

The sole Labor candidate at our pre-election forum, Jennifer Kanis, stated her support of We Live Here and a willingness to work with us if elected.

At the time of writing, the electoral fate of Jennifer Kanis was still in the balance.

Either way, without the official backing of Labor we are afraid that her sentiments may not count for much.

The Greens through Ellen Sandell and Samantha Ratnam along with Fiona Patten of the Reason Party have all been supportive of We Live Here and the regulation of the short-stay industry.

But with reduced clout in parliament, the Greens and independents will not be able to achieve much.

So now Mr Andrews, it is time for Labor to take positive action and implement significant changes to support inner-city residents.

Work with council Whatever the outcome of the next few weeks of political change, we hope the state government can learn to work collaboratively with the City of Melbourne.

The two tiers of government must work closely on issues around short-stays as well as other issues affecting residents including cladding, traffic congestion, planning, and the tram bridge.

Buildings fight back Owners' corporation (OC) committees are becoming stronger and more united and are taking matters into their own hands – dispelling the fake news that OCs are dysfunctional or apathetic.

Many OC committees have expressed to We Live Here that they are prepared to risk VCAT action to ensure that their long-term residents – owner-occupiers and tenants – can enjoy the amenity of their Class Two residential building not designed for ersatz hotel-style accommodation.

To do this, short-stay operators and those who book short-term accommodation via on-line booking platforms – Airbnb, Stayz, etc – are forced to comply with in-house rules.

However, this comes at a huge cost to the OC in terms of increased surveillance, security and maintenance which is paid for out of levies.

There must surely be some government MPs, old and new, who are aware of the short-stay issue overseas and mindful of what cities such as Paris, London, Barcelona, Berlin, Amsterdam, New York and San Francisco have been doing to regulate the short-stay industry.

A recent report released by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute stated that short-term letting helps to "reinforce the increasingly inequitable housing landscape in Australia's largest cities", contradicting a report commissioned by Airbnb, and that a more comprehensive approach is needed to monitor and regulate the industry.

With its increased majority, this government must stop burying its head in the sand and take some action, allowing residents a seat at the table to ensure there is a level playing field for all so that the government is not seen to be kowtowing to multi-nationals like Airbnb.

We congratulate Daniel Andrews on his big win and invite him, as a matter of priority, to convene a meeting with representatives of We Live Here early in the term of his new government.

What do we want? We Live Here calls on the Andrews government to: 1.

AMEND the Owners Corporation Act 2006 to regulate the short-stay industry – far beyond the scope of the woefully inadequate pro-Airbnb "party" bill that was shamefully passed just before the election.

The Airbnb "party" bill made it even harder for OCs to recoup costs of damage and it completely ignored issues of security, amenity and community development; 2.

RESTORE POWERS to OCs to make decisions about use of a lot, lost in Justice Riordan's Supreme Court decision in July 2017; 3.

GIVE POWERS to OCs to determine if short-stays should be permitted; 4.

REVISE the proposed scheme for individual owners to take out a bank loan to remediate flammable cladding and repay the loan via their council rates – which would be unworkable; and  5.

ENGAGE with We Live Here.

Talk to us – we represent more than 200 buildings throughout Melbourne and Victoria.

We can help you understand how to look after strata communities.

Corruption, secret deals, intimidation, blackmail. No, we are not talking about a new TV series – we are talking about owners' corporations across Melbourne.

Strata owners at a recent We Live Here seminar heard extraordinary tales of rorts and rip-offs.

A number of high-profile owners corporations, from St Kilda Rd, South Melbourne, West Melbourne, Southbank and Docklands shared their incredibly agonising stories.

The May seminar was organised by We Live Here to allow owners' corporation committee members to share their knowledge and experience about proxy farming, price fixing and rorts.

The seminar was opened by one of the We Live Here directors, Barbara Francis, who was very pleased to announce that the attending committees came from a diverse group of apartments from all around Melbourne - the support base of We Live Here is growing! The horror stories we heard included: Proxy farming on a grand scale; Proxies held by real estate company clerical staff to mask the true extent of the farming; Sacking committees who dare to question the incumbent contractor; Essential services and fire safety ignored; Developers spreading false stories about whistle-blowers; Building managers skimming millions of dollars in secret electricity commissions; Common property leased to developers' mates for no fee; High maintenance costs without proper maintenance being carried out; and Defects not addressed.

We Live Here is very grateful for the courageous speakers who stood up and told their stories for others to learn from their experience.

We will not reveal any names or identify any properties because of the potential recriminations.

Conscientious owners are fighting powerful, vested interests and there is a lot of money at stake.

Another director of We Live Here Helina Marshall, the moderator of the seminar, said the purpose of this type of seminar was to allow committee members to speak freely and exchange ideas about solutions to the problems facing strata communities.

"When there is a problem, we are not alone.

Other committees often have the same or similar issues.

Only by sharing and learning from each other we will improve our knowledge and skills in dealing with the day-to-day committee or building issues," she said.

Marshall Delves, another director of We Live Here, reminded the attendees that We Live Here needed the support of many committees to keep going and be stronger.

Although We Live Here is only two and a half years old, we have achieved a lot during this period.

We have a good relationship with the City of Melbourne and have made contacts with a number of key politicians.

The We Live Here seminar was well received and successful.

We Live Here will organise more of this type of forum in the future. Watch this space!

Congratulations Sally Capp

We Live Here was honoured to meet with mayoral candidate Sally Capp before the election and we had the opportunity to establish rapport.

Now that Cr Capp is Lord Mayor we will be following up on the election commitments that she made.

Last month we noted that plans for the renovation of the Queen Victoria Market, heavily promoted by the previous Lord Mayor, may have to go back to the drawing board because of Heritage Victoria's refusal of a key element of the proposal.

With the election of Cr Capp, we anticipate a radical rethink that will preserve the precinct as the premier tourist attraction in Melbourne. We will keep a close eye on this issue.

When we met, Cr Capp told We Live Here that short-stays must be regulated – the same message that We Live Here has been promoting. Cr Capp showed that she was very well informed about the short-stay issues and the problems that needed to be addressed.

At the meet-the-candidates forums in the run-up to the election, Cr Capp made it clear that, in her view, there was not a level playing field because hotels were complying with all the regulations, paying their staff properly and meeting workplace safety standards.

Cr Capp talked about there being a lot of security issues, damage and noise issues, general interruption and wear-and-tear on buildings, and a lot of uncertainty around safety.

We are pleased to have a mayor who has indicated she is willing to engage with We Live here on an ongoing basis.

We look forward to the Lord Mayor following through on her commitments, taking action and escalating the short-stay issue to the state government.

Cr Capp has an open-door policy and has said she would organise community forums to gain first-hand knowledge.

We Live Here will keep you informed so that all owners and residents can come along and be heard.

In our April column we reported on two apartment buildings where owners were suffering after proxy farmers stitched up lucrative contracts.

Another story has come to the notice of We Live Here of one strata owner's lone fight to take on the might of developer and the management company appointed to administer the common property for the owners' corporation (OC).

Between them they have blatantly ignored the rights of owners who are virtually powerless to do anything about it.

The mixed-use development in the City of Stonnington includes 505 residential apartments above a shopping mall.

The apartment complex comes with a tennis court and a swimming pool and on first glance looks like luxury-living on a grand scale.

However, look a little further and another picture emerges.

In the ground floor entrance foyer, an area designated on the original plans as common property for the use of residents and their guests as a recreation area, has been leased (or sold) to a real estate agency.

This real estate agency holds hundreds of proxies for the apartments it manages in the complex.

The single glass front door opening into the glamorous foyer is also the sole means of access for residents moving goods into and out of the building; whilst a short distance down the street a huge loading-bay connecting the residents' car park to the floors where their storage cages are located, via a very large goods lift, is off-limits to residents.

In 2008 when the building permit was issued the loading zone was approved for both residential and retail use.

However by 2012 when settlement took place residents were informed by the management company that the loading bay was now for retail use only and their security swipes were programmed to prevent use of the goods lift! An average of more than one furniture delivery arrives each day for people moving in and out; delivery vans are required to illegally double-park and unload their goods in the street just metres from a major thoroughfare; the glass front door is jammed open and beds, fridges and entire households are wheeled through the foyer.

Drivers are booked, residents are shamed and the property becomes less desirable, not to say reduced in value when the onsite building manager tells everyone who enters the building that there is no loading zone.

There also appears to be other irregularities, e.g. in the allocation of residents' and visitors' car parks between what was approved in the original building permit and what was provided at settlement.

After hundreds of hours of research, being denied a position on the OC committee by three of the current five members who between them hold proxies for hundreds of absentee owners – a blatant case of proxy farming – issuing complaints about breaches of the model rules which have been ignored, the intrepid owner is taking the management company to VCAT to obtain a ruling that residents can use what is legally theirs.

If she succeeds she will be benefitting all 505 owners despite having to do it all on her own with the only assistance available being provided by Consumer Affairs and Freedom of Information.

Legal Aid doesn't handle such matters and one needs $6000 before even getting to talk to a lawyer.

With the weight of the developer and management against her it is going to be tough going and we hope other owners will come out and give her the support she deserves.

We wish her well.

The by-election for lord mayor 

Voting for the new lord mayor ended on May 11, with Sally Capp being victorious.

During the campaign period We Live Here attended three "meet the candidates" sessions and met with a number of them.

Although it won't be an easy time for Cr Capp to take over an incumbent council, we are confident that residents will have a greater voice than in previous councils.

Already we note that plans for the renovation of the Queen Victoria Market, heavily promoted by the previous lord mayor, may have to go back to the drawing board because of Heritage Victoria's refusal of a key element of the proposal.

This will hopefully open the door to a radical rethink that will preserve the precinct as the premier tourist attraction in Melbourne.

We Live Here has had a request from the ABC for information about embedded electricity networks.

The broadcaster is investigating an issue arising from electricity companies in strata complexes with embedded networks having difficulties trying to change electricity providers or take over the network.

If your OC, or if you know of any OC that has had trouble changing their electricity contracts, or find that the contracts have been rolled over without realising, or have chosen to pay for the infrastructure to allow the OC to take over the embedded network – please let us know.

OCs might find that the contracts are worded carefully to avoid the word "commission" and importantly, the margin skimmed by the manager is not disclosed.

Under the terms of some contracts, managers can claim "commercial confidentiality" to avoid disclosing just how much they make from the electricity account of each occupier.

In a building of 400 apartments, a 10 per cent kickback on electricity could swell your property manager's account by as much as $500,000 per year, coming out the pockets of owners who often don't even know about the commission.

The reforms to electricity distribution, due to take effect in 2020, will make it possible for embedded networks to be challenged.

This is a long overdue reform.

Until then, you may be paying 10 per cent or possibly 20 per cent above the best available rate to cover the commission being paid to your property manager.

Have a look at your supply and megawatt rates and compare them.

Owners pay for proxy farmers stitching up lucrative contracts Owners at two Southbank apartment buildings have recently been left battered and bruised after nasty fights with their property management companies.

The owners were out-manipulated and out-voted.

Armed with a swag of proxies gathered from overseas owners, Network Pacific ousted a committee of owners who had questioned the contract performance of subsidiaries in the group.

The ABC's 7.30 picked up on the ugly stoush, which ended up in VCAT.

It started with the committee of owners cataloguing more than 400 problems with the management of the building – improperly maintained fire extinguishers, poor cleaning and failure to repair damage.

There were also serious concerns about how the funds were being spent, given that the contractors were under the effective financial control of the property management group.

The property manager called a special meeting, circulating information to owners that was described on 7.30 as false or defamatory.

Two real estate companies with links to Network Pacific gathered a large number of non-resident proxies and the proxy-holders voted the whistle-blowers off the committee.

The property manager-linked contractors were subsequently reappointed for three more years.

The disaffected owners took the matter to VCAT which, unsurprisingly, found no issue with the proxy farming.

Meanwhile, another Southbank building is having similar issues with a property management company.

At a recent AGM hundreds of proxies from non-resident owners were used to oust the critics of their operations.

Only four members of the new committee are independent owners, the other eight have connections to the company or its associated companies.

Two of the proxy holders – a director and an employee – held more than 85 per cent of the proxies between them.

This is an instance of proxy farming at its worst, and could soon become illegal.

One of the options considered by the Department of Consumer Affairs in its recent review of the Owners Corporation Act, with the findings due to be released soon, is to limit the total number of proxies held by one person to no more than 5 per cent! Across town at a Docklands apartment, a developer's associate voted to give himself a highly profitable lease on his lot to be used by the owners' corporation.

The 20-year lease was about 20 per cent above the market rate with no option for the OC to terminate.

All three situations have arisen from lucrative management contracts being granted hours before the off-the-plan units are settled, and no doubt are just the tip of the iceberg.

We Live Here calls on the state government to:  Limit developer-appointed contracts to 12 months to allow new owners coming in to have some say in how the contracts are awarded; Require that all these management contracts should be disclosed in the section 32 to allow investors to be aware of the costs; Make it mandatory for all relationships between the developer and contractors to be disclosed; Proscribe any person with an interest, shareholding, directorship or association with a property management company from sitting on an owners corporation committee; and Compel all contractors to disclose commissions paid to developers or building managers.

New data on Airbnb listings for Melbourne has shown that between 2016 and 2018 there has been a 132 per cent increase in listings for metropolitan Melbourne and a whopping 186 per cent increase in listings within the City of Melbourne, see Table 1.

The figures were extracted and analysed especially for We Live Here by New York-based Australian Murray Cox, the creator of InsideAirbnb.com who is back in Australia on a short visit.

As many of you will know InsideAirbnb.com is the website that analyses Airbnb's publicly available data and makes it available for anyone to use.

Not surprisingly Mr Cox has been referred to as Airbnb's "public enemy number one", but for those of us around the world trying to get a handle on the ever-increasing problem it is gold and we are very grateful to him for providing us with this up-to-date information.

We Live Here's submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Short-stays (March 2017) included data for 2016 that was extracted from InsideAirbnb.com.

A total of 56.6 per cent of all listings were for entire dwellings and 38.9 per cent of hosts were multi-listing.

These percentages from 2016 were applied to the data from 2018 in the above table (and there is nothing to suggest that anything has changed in the meantime).

These results are shocking and fly in the face of Airbnb's own mantra that their business is only about "mums and dads" renting out a room in their own home!

These data of course don't include all the other on-line booking platforms or the short-stay operators who for years have been running commercial short-stay businesses in residential buildings not designed for them, and not paying their due taxes, etc.

It all adds up to an industry out of control that is rapidly turning Melbourne into a city of ghettoes in the sky, with the pain now spreading to the fringes of Melbourne such as the Mornington Peninsula.

It is time for Planning and Consumer Affairs to get together to address this issue, as their counterparts in NSW are doing.

San Francisco is an example of how short-stays can be regulated in apartments.

Airbnb law in San Francisco

Since 2015, San Francisco law has regulated short-term rentals in apartments, with an Office of Short Term Rental (OSTR) established to enforce the law.

The main principles of the law are:

·  Permanent San Francisco residents only.

·  To rent an entire property short-term the host must live in the property for 275 days per year.

·  Absentee owners cannot do short-term rentals; 90-day rule.

·  Where host is not present, maximum 90 days per year – subject to a daily fine of around $A600 for a first offence and then up to A$1200 per day; Hosted rentals exempt.

·  Where the host is present in the unit these rules do not apply; Only primary residence may be rented short term.

·  Permanent residents may rent out their primary residence but not properties where they don't live. This is aimed at stopping landlords evicting tenants to create ersatz hotels;

Registration and permits.

·  Hosts must register and get a permit in person from the OSTR.

·  The fee is $300 for two years.

·  The registered property addresses are accessible online to the public; Insurance mandatory.

·  Minimum $650,000 liability cover.

·  Or the host can use a hosting service that offers at least that cover.

Airbnb, for example, says they provide hosts with $1 million liability cover;

Safety.

Hosts are also obliged to post notices inside the front door with the location of fire extinguishers, emergency exits and alarms;

Rent control.

·  Hosts who are tenants are prohibited from charging guests more than they are paying to their current landlord.

·  Tenants who breach this rule can be fined up to $A1200 per day and be banned; Hotel Tax.

·  The 14 per cent San Francisco Transient Occupancy Tax must be collected from guests and paid to the city.

·  This requires either registration by the host with the San Francisco Treasurer and Tax Collector and a certificate of business registration, or the use of Airbnb to do this for the host (no other platforms have been approved to take this role); Hosting platforms must notify hosts.

·  Platforms such as Airbnb must notify their hosts of these laws; and Tenants must notify landlords.

·  Leases that forbid subletting are still valid and eviction for breach is allowed.

·  A tenant must be given 30 days notice to cease to avoid eviction.

Finally Jane Garrett for Lord Mayor of Melbourne … Tell her she's dreaming!  Jane Garrett, formerly Minister for Consumer Affairs, was responsible for introducing the Owners Corporation Amendment (Short-stay Accommodation) Bill, 2016 (the Bill) into Parliament in May 2016.

Evidence shows that the government colluded with AirBnB in producing this legislation.

Ms Garrett was photographed shaking hands with Airbnb's Sam McDonagh following the announcement of the Bill.

Airbnb's Brent Thomas announced on Melbourne radio that it had partnered with the government on the Bill, declaring it was the "best legislation anywhere in the world".

We now wonder if Airbnb might be trying to infiltrate the council.

When interviewed about her plans to nominate for Lord Mayor, Ms Garrett said that it had been "raised by others" – could it be Airbnb using her to get a toe-hold into the City of Melbourne? The residents of Melbourne deserve better than a Lord Mayor who will destroy the fabric of living in strata communities.

So unless she comes and talks to us and convinces us otherwise, We Live Here would not want her to represent the City of Melbourne on our behalf.