When fire devastated parts of the Miller Street complex on November 12, evacuated residents assumed it would be a matter of days or weeks before they could return to collect belongings, or what was left of them.

While they were given about an hour that afternoon to take what they could carry - sometimes without use of a car and with no new address to go to - they say their return date was repeatedly pushed back with scant explanation from their real estate agent, Harcourts Wollongong, or the building's insurer, GIO.

Now residents are asking why they were kept away for so long and why more wasn't done to safeguard their belongings in their absence.

After the fire, a padlocked gate was erected at the entrance to the complex and any daytime visitors were turned away by contractors.

Meantime, workers came and went and after-hours visitors repeatedly broke in or - in some cases - walked through doors or windows that were left unlocked.

One of the residents had cash and electrical items stolen from his apartment.

He told the Mercury he had repeatedly contacted Harcourts Wollongong to request access to his home before it was ransacked, but was refused with little explanation.

He learnt he had been robbed only through Coniston Anglican Church, whose members fund-raised for the displaced residents.

"We were devastated really," said the resident, who did not want to be identified.

"On top of everything - the fire, having nowhere to sleep - we've been broken into as well."

The blaze and subsequent firefighting effort caused serious fire and water damage to the top-floor apartments and, once the roof was removed, left them completely exposed to the elements.

But ground-floor residents cannot understand why they were also kept away from their apartments for so long, given the lower level was untouched by the disaster.

In the absence of human intervention or electricity, maggots moved into their fridges until putrefied brown matter leaked out and puddled on the floor.

Ground-floor residents Heath and Rachel Byrne left their apartment immaculately clean on November 12 because an inspection was scheduled.

After the fire it looked the same. They locked all the doors and windows, only to return this week to find the front door unlocked and about $5000 worth of contents missing, including 32 Xbox games, cameras and lenses.

After six weeks of sleeping in the homes of different friends and relatives, the couple recently signed a lease on a new property and parted with $3000 for a replacement fridge and sofa - items they could easily have salvaged from Miller Street.

"What were we supposed to do with no fridge?" said Mrs Byrne, 26, a nurse.

"It seems to us we could have come in at least to the bottom units in that first week and we wouldn't have lost anything.

"Now there's cockroaches everywhere and the fridges are full of maggots. We'll probably have to replace everything in the pantry.

"It's quite emotional. We had kept it so nicely."

Demolition worker Tony Johnston said it was necessary to keep residents off site in the immediate aftermath of the fire because the flames had burnt the building's asbestos eaves, making the material friable.

Mr Johnston said the work clearing the asbestos was completed some time in 2014.

He continued working on the upstairs apartments - bracing walls, disposing of fire and water-damaged property - into the new year, but cannot understand why all residents needed to be kept away.

"I'm baffled," he said.

"We didn't need to touch any of the bottom apartments.

"I feel bad for the residents."

Residents have now been told they need to clear out their apartments by January 23.

The task is an uphill battle for Susie Jay, who is still living in a hotel room. The cramped arrangements there had compounded mental health problems within her family, she said.

She returned to her ground-floor apartment this week to find the beds rumpled by strangers and her jewellery box lying in the middle of the loungeroom floor with items missing.

Knowing thieves had been through the place made her feel violated, she said.

"I would have rather it had all burnt," said Ms Jay, who is looking for somewhere to live after January 23.

Upstairs resident Lachlan Bartsh, 23, lost most of his possessions to water and fire damage.

Mr Bartsh later discovered that thieves had been through his then-girlfriend's clothes and taken selected garments as well as items totalling about $5000, including a ring.

Harcourts Wollongong would not respond to the Mercury's questions, other than to direct inquiries elsewhere.

"Once the police had completed their investigations, the property was handed to the insurer GIO who took control of the building," said Harcourts' Adrian D'Amico.

GIO has been contacted for comment.