New laws passed to crack down on rogue SMs
New laws designed to crack down on strata managers receiving secret kickbacks while introducing higher penalties for agents doing the wrong thing, have passed the NSW parliament, the government announced…
Jimmy-T
Forum: Changing our tune over noise complaints
Sometimes we feel like we are being led up the garden path by you lovely people, especially on the Forum. A poster in the past week was worried about neighbours’…
IMHO: Why pets are props in property shots
Hot on the heels of our comments that PR companies are using less-than-authoritative surveys to fabricate news stories to promote their clients’ wares comes information about a “new trend” where…
Strata Trapped: Manager lashes out at ABC
Michael Lee, a strata manager and committee chair highlighted in the ABC TV Four Corners report The Strata Trap, has lashed out at the controversial documentary’s allegations, saying they contain…
Podcast: The other strata trap, post Chandler
We start this week’s podcast by looking back at the previous episode which has broken all our records for regular downloads. It’s not surprising really, given that it was a chat with…
IMHO: A quick strata fix is better than no fix at all
Subscribers to the Flat Chat Newsletter get a weekly dose of my personal musings on the topics of the week, along with our round-up of recent posts, so I though…
Forum: Rules and regs of the strata game
There’s a question in the Forum this week that touches on a nerve for me – and it’s about rules and regulations for committees. Now there are plenty of those…
High-rise rescue to create 500-plus rental flats
One of Sydney’s most newsworthy apartment entities and another more notorious name have come together in an odd marriage of convenience to complete more than 500 apartments and ease the…
Ten top consumer groups demand strata inquiry
A coalition of 10 leading consumer and strata advocacy associations has called for a national public inquiry into the strata management industry, in the wake of the ABC TV Four…
Podcast: Behind the scenes of the Strata Trap
We rolled the Wrap out a little early this week because it’s connected to the hottest topic in strata right now. Linton Besser, the reporter who brought you the Four…
Forum: Who’s watching the CCTV watchers
There are all sorts of good reasons for having cameras mounted on common property in apartment blocks. Being able to see who’s coming and going at your front door would…
Tenants back roll-out of Vic insulation regs
An overwhelming majority of renters would like to see Victoria’s proposed domestic energy efficiency laws spread across Australia. The results in a survey by renewable energy company Green are hardly…