This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The New South Wales government will fund an emergency assistance package for residents of Sydney’s Mascot Towers for temporary accommodation.

The 10-year-old building in Sydney’s south was evacuated at short notice on 14 June after engineers became concerned about continued cracking in the primary support structure and facade masonry.

On Sunday, the state government pledged to reimburse residents’ temporary accommodation costs, capped at a daily rate and for up to three months. The money will come from the interest accumulated in Fair Work’s rental bonds fund and will be a loan to be paid back when insurance on the building kicks in.

The better regulation minister, Kevin Anderson, denied the government’s decision would open a can of worms and said it was a “one-off” deal.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A sign is at Mascot Towers last week. Photograph: Danny Casey/AAP

“Ultimately we’ve got to do the right thing by them, they’ve been in a terrible situation,” he told reporters. “I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to suddenly turn up to your home and not be allowed in.”

The package will be available to both tenants and owner-occupiers, with one-bedroom apartment occupiers receiving $220 per night, two-bedroom apartments $300 per night and three-bedroom apartments $400 per night.

Anderson denied there was any cause for alarm at the prospect there could be other buildings in Sydney with similar problems and said the government would work to restore people’s confidence in the building industry.

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“We’re very keen to restore confidence across Sydney and the way we’re doing that is going to be conducting the biggest shake-up of the construction industry this state has ever seen,” he said. “A building commissioner will look at the quality, transparency and accountability.”

Owners of the building’s apartments on Thursday voted to fund a $1m special levy to fund initial works on the building, while a GoFundMe page has been established for donations towards repair work.

More than $4,100 had been donated by Sunday.

Engineers will provide a fresh update on the building’s condition next Thursday.

Residents on Friday were told those with homes in the previously non-accessible “red zone” would be able to return and gather belongings on Sunday.

Nevertheless, an update from engineers revealed beams in the building’s basement continued to show signs of increased cracking.

A previous engineers’ summary released on Thursday said there were signs the complex was “stabilising” but there was no immediate prospect of residents returning within the next month.