Unintended consequences of late levies – lost jobs and voting rights
There’s a lot of chat at the moment about the pressure on people to pay levies when they might have lost their job or their income has been reduced. I…
From the Forum: Can we block unit sub-division?
There’s been a flurry of activity on the Forum this week, as regular readers find they have time to ask and answer all those question that have been nagging at…
Podcast 67: Airbnb bugged, gym junkies fret … and fun
In this week’s extra-long Flat Chat Wrap, obsession with coronavirus is spreading like, well, a virus. Jimmy and Sue discuss how it may be having a crippling effect on that…
How to manage strata finances if levies dry up
There’s a lot of talk around at the moment about rent and mortgage support, to help individuals and families whose income has been hit by the coronavirus. We touched on…
Surviving and thriving as the world shuts down
Last week we invited our sponsors to let us know what we can do to make life easier during these restricted days, and maybe even to find some positives that…
Working from home works … but only for some
Between social distancing, self-isolation and plain old working from home, there are a lot more people around apartment blocks during the day than there were only a few weeks ago.…
D-Day looms for Airbnb apartment ban by-laws
D-Day for apartment blocks in holiday areas of NSW is just around the corner – where D stands for “Dump short-term letting”. On April 10, the new NSW strata regulations…
Can they make us close our strata gyms?
I have been asked this question several times in the past few days, and it has taken a while to find the definitive answer: do we need to close our…
From the Forum: Soft-touch seniors don’t get it
How bad does a strata scheme have to be before you head off to NCAT and apply for the appointment of a statutory strata manager? Very, very bad, is the…
Podcast 66 – Locked down and loaded up with medical misinformation
In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap, Jimmy and Sue discuss Australia’s coronavirus lockdown and what it means to people living in apartments. There’s the whole issue of returned travellers settling…
Cleaning king says Covid-19 carriers should be cleared out of apartments
Frank Boross, Australia’s apartment block “cleaning king” has called on the government to rethink its attitude in allowing apartment residents infected with coronavirus (Covid-19), or suspected of having it, to…
Many a slip … bet they wouldn’t do this to George
OK, I know this is very much a First World problem but when a company promotes itself with slick advertising and mucho flannel about caring for their customer, it’s sometimes…
Strata anger over Airbnb coronavirus packages
Apartment residents across Australia are angry that their buildings could be turned into high-risk viral hot-spots, with Airbnb hosts offering self-isolation packages to returned overseas travellers. Community leaders claim that…
Danger from dodgy health advice posts
There’s an email flying around at the moment claiming to contain advice from a Sydney hospital to its staff. It bears a lot of similarities to another (literally and figuratively)…
Strata’s silenced majority needs to find its voice
When it comes to public speaking, are you a Nervous Nelly or the kind of orator who won’t stop talking until the microphone has been prised from your cold dead…
Coming to an Airbnb near you – self-isolating overseas travellers
We should have seen it coming. Opportunist Airbnb hosts are jumping in on the coronavirus quarantine restrictions by offering special “self-isolation” packages – including in apartment blocks. The packages include…
From the Forum: Mystery of the missing rent money
It’s kind of ironic that in the very week when we are highlighting the new residential rental laws, we receive a strange post from a tenant whose landlord refuses to…
Podcast 64: New rent laws but same old story with point-scoring pollies
In this week’s Podcast, Jimmy and Sue examine the plusses and minuses in the new NSW rental laws, which tilt things in tenants’ favour but don’t go all the way.…