ROUNDUP: Paint or varnish? Another strata cover-up
Every so often I get the feeling that there must be a strand of DNA that makes people both nit-picking and want to live in strata. Take the post from…
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Roundup: When ‘privacy’ is more important than unit block fire safety
I was gobsmacked this week to discover that Fair Trading have refused to even tell owners in the 400-plus buildings seriously affected by flammable cladding that there’s a seminar this…
Roundup: Revenge as bullying by-law is bounced
One of our long-suffering Flatchatters took her problems with her strata committee to NCAT the other week. The dispute was all about work that the owners corp should have done…
NSW Labor promises strata commissioner to tackle defects
EXCLUSIVE: By Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson A dedicated Strata Commissioner to protect apartment owners and residents and restore confidence in the strata sector will be introduced by the Labor…
Opal Tower owners don’t know how lucky they are
The owners of apartments in the now notorious Opal Tower probably don’t realise it, but they are lucky. Obviously, it was bad luck that supporting walls in their building in…
Roundup: A quick health check on the Forum
Does your pulse race at the thought of someone stealing your parking space? Are you having sleepless nights, worrying about the flat next door going on Airbnb? Have you developed…
The day Airbnb came round to complain
About two years ago, I got a phone call from two of my editors at the Sydney Morning Herald. I should say “former editors” – none of us work there…
Strata defect laws need an injection of Fair Go
With Sydney Olympic Park’s Opal building crumbling on one side, and buildings in Melbourne going up in flames on the other, NSW Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean had to do…
Posh party animals trash Airbnb rental as holiday lets face global curbs
While local residents in Byron Bay have been offered the prospect of some respite from the incursion of holiday letting agencies into residential homes, it seems no one is immune…
Podcast: Parliamentary panic behind short-term letting U-turn
This week our podcast is given over to an extended chat with NSW Independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich. I’ve come across many politicians in this game. Most have been…
Gentrification sees gyms take over Kings Cross
The gentrification of Kings Cross, the upsurge in the number of high-end apartments and the withering effect of the lock-out laws on licensed premises have combined to unexpected effect, writes Sue Williams. You…
Kean announces tighter laws for apartment builders
On Sunday, February 10, NSW Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean announced a plan for a tightening of building regulations, clearly in a response to the Opal Tower and cladding scandals.…
Cladding: It’s your money that the governments are burning
There was another cladding fire in Melbourne the other day. It was one of those “accidents waiting to happen” we’ve been hearing about since the horror Grenfell Tower blaze in…
Small fire, not many dead: Ignorance and racism in Neo200 debate
On Wednesday morning I woke up to read a somewhat hysterical story in the Sydney Morning Herald about the latest apartment block fire in Melbourne. Not only was I appalled…
Podcast: Chatting flats with “mighty” Rod Quinn
In this week’s podcast we have kind of hijacked the Rod Quinn “Talking Points” segment for his ABC Overnight show on radio last week – featuring Flat Chat’s very own…
Election connection as OCN faces the big issues for 2019
Last year was huge for the Owners Corporation Network (OCN), the only significant body for apartment owners, run by apartment owners. Most notably, they were hugely instrumental in turning what…
Roundup: From a secret coup to levies discounts for pensioners
The holidays are behind us, the kids are back at school and Flatchatters have their fingers poised over their keyboards (wondering what the heck has happened to the Forum). If…
That sinking feeling … and why funds run dry
It’s something of a cliché – the ageing apartment block crumbling slowly before your eyes while the oldies on the committee zealously guard the plump sinking fund (as it used…