Flat Chat Wrap #39 – Loopholes and pitfalls in new Airbnb regs
Just when you thought it was safe to dip your toe into the Airbnb discussion, it turns out the proposed new laws are not what they seem. The 180-day cap…
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From the Forum: fake grassroots campaign fails to catch fire
Our post on the short-term letting fire regulations sparked a fiery discussion (oops, sorry!). And that was before we even discovered that Airbnb hosts had already swamped Planning NSW with…
How Fireys may save us from holiday let hell
The NSW government released their discussion document of the proposed new short-term letting regulations this week and, of course, they make interesting reading. I will be examining the proposal for…
Flammable cladding – Jimmy T on Sunrise
Earlier this month (Feb 2019) there was a second flammable cladding fire on the outside of an apartment block in Melbourne. Flat Chat’s JimmyT went on Weekend Sunrise to argue…
Seven years on from fatal blaze, new mid-rises finally get sprinklers
It has taken almost seven years since the fatal fire in the unit block in Bankstown but as of this week, builders in NSW will be required to install automatic…
Smoke alarm and rent rise shocks in Airbnb lets
Smoke alarms that either don’t exist or are covered up, higher rents for permanent residents and a new service that helps hosts find somewhere to stay when they are renting…
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…
Blocks get together to fight crippling cladding bills
Apartment owners facing bills of as much as $60,000 per unit to fix flammable cladding are being invited to join together in an effort to force developers to foot the…
Over 400 blocks identified with high-risk cladding in NSW
A total of 435 high-rise buildings at “potentially high risk” from flammable cladding fires, have been identified by the NSW state government and Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW), according to…
Roundup: No deaths in new Dubai cladding fire
Another fire in a flammable aluminium clad building in Dubai reminds us that our politicians are still running around trying to look busy while ignoring the simple facts. The latest…
Strata owners fear insurance bills as much as cladding fires
By Sue Williams Apartment owners whose buildings are covered with inflammable cladding are living in as much fear of insurance hikes as they are of fires, says a leading strata…
Fire safety questions have a surprisingly simple answer
Last week we looked at fire ordinances and old apartment blocks, but recent headlines have mostly been about shiny new buildings and the flammable cladding that makes them look so…
How not to get your fingers burned over fire safety
Considering how few fatalities there are in apartment fires, the dangers from unit block blazes do seem to occupy a lot of bureaucratic brain space. On the other hand, it…
Time to chuck another Aussie tradition on the barbie
Here’s a question for everyone who is getting their teeshirts in a twist over flammable cladding: Would you give up having barbecues on your balconies if it meant you didn’t…
Roundup: Legal action launched over Bankstown fire tragedy
The family of the student who died in the Bankstown fire five years ago, as well as the surviving victim, are suing everybody and anybody who may have contributed to…
Flammable cladding the ‘asbestos of 2017’ says fire safety expert
Future owners of new apartments will be protected from buying into potentially unsafe buildings with Federal and State government agreement last week to place a moratorium on the use of…
Flammable cladding report makes chilling viewing
Did you see Four Corners on the ABC this week? It was all about the dangers of inflammable cladding and how they’ve been around for two decades. You will be…