From the Forum: Committee causing parking problems
We fielded a curious question about parking that drew a very enlightening response, this week. One of our Flatchatters can’t easily get to her garage because other residents – including…
PODCAST – Pet warning and dodgy voting stats
SHOW NOTES In this week’s podcast JimmyT and Sue Williams look again at the issue of the overturning of the pet ban by-law in one of Sydneys biggest and poshest…
How to build a better building facilities manager
In these days of Trumpian hyperbole, you’d hesitate to brand anyone as the best or the worst in their field, unless they had a gold medal around their neck or…
Tenants lured with big bucks to sub-let properties on Airbnb
By Jimmy Thomson The prospect of six-figure earnings is being used to lure rent-investors into sub-letting multiple residential properties through holiday letting websites like Airbnb – without owning any…
Pet death threat as block appeals by-law ban
Residents in one of Sydney’s top apartment blocks have been warned they may have to have their newly bought or adopted dogs and cats put down, or move out themselves,…
One Central Park named in world’s top tall blocks
Sydney’s eye-catching One Central Park has been named one of the 50 most influential tall buildings of the last 50 years in the international Council on Tall Buildings and Urban…
From the Forum: Ex-member driving tradies away
One of the oddities of strata life has popped up this week with a sacked committee owner wreaking revenge on his neighbours through nefarious but strictly legal means. With clearly…
PODCAST: Dardanelle Towers – Episode 3: Sniffing Glue
Blame the bank holiday, the Rugby World Cup or the need for a break, but we thought we’d revisit our old friends at the fictional (or is it?) apartment block…
Why strata levies need their own meerkats
Among the many benefits of the internet, comparison websites seem to get a fair old workout, and from users of all ages and backgrounds. You know the things I mean,…
From the Forum: Stray cats and rat runs
Some people like cats, others can’t abide them, but one Flatchatter is being driven nuts by some feral cats and, more to the point, the resident who feeds them. If…
PODCAST: Airbnb curbs, pet ban by-law bounced and free money
We cover a lot of ground in this week’s chat with journalist and author Sue Williams, including two old favourites – Airbnb and pet bans – and a brand new…
Naming shame – silencing strata committee bullies
Sometimes living in strata is like a soap opera …occasionally it feels like something much more sinister. A friend lives in a small block of about 50 units that trundles…
How Airbnb’s figures on rentals have been fudged
Airbnb, with a few minor self-interested exceptions, seem to be going it alone with their objections to the holiday letting registries proposed for NSW and now WA. And they are…
Flammable cladding crisis solved – phoenix it!
The fire engineer who approved the Neo 200 building in Melbourne – the most recent high-rise cladding fire in Australia – has gone to court to try to have his…
More curbs on way for Airbnb hosts as WA plans register and by-laws
Barriers are going up across Australia in an effort to curb the out-of-control spread of illegal holiday lets, with both NSW and now WA considering strata scheme by-law bans, mandatory…
From the Forum: Who pays when running repairs are left to rot?
Everybody knows that the owners corporation (body corporate) has to pay to repair and maintain common property (if you didn’t, you do now.) Oh, and by the way, YOU are…
PODCAST: Stratabox and building communities through communication
For years I have been struck by the irony of the connection (or lack thereof) between communication and community and how it seems to fall asunder at the doors of…
Ticking clocks and closing windows – time to deal with defects
Towards the end of last century, around about the time state governments started allowing apartment block developers to appoint their preferred certifiers, launching the self-certification scandal, HIH Insurance collapsed. HIH…