Blowing in the wind

Living in a strata development where things aren’t run to your liking is challenging enough.  But what if you live next door to a block where something really irritates you?

QUESTION: I live beside a duplex where the owners of the unit level with mine have taken to drying their laundry on their front balcony.  This is most unsightly as she washes several times a week.  I have not seen any other balcony in the street with washing hung out to dry in the last 20 years!

I have spoken to the neighbours but without success. Our strata by-laws prevent us from drying washing on balconies in the building.  Is this a common strata by-law?

How can I find out whether the drying of clothes on the balcony is allowed under the by-laws in the neighbouring duplex? – JT via Flat Chat Forum

ANSWER: Even if you discovered there was a by-law forbidding drying laundry on balconies – and there’s every chance there is one – your neighboring Executive Committee is not compelled to enforce it.

It depends on the owners how strictly by-laws are policed and since a duplex has only two owners, I’d guess your chances of success are slim to negligible.

Unless the other owner next door has a majority vote and they agree with you, there’s not much you can do.  You could try to organise your building’s owners to complain but since the other building doesn’t need to pay any attention, that might be pointless too.

Legal action on the grounds that the sight of their washing is lowering the value of your property might be possible but that’s a high risk strategy that could ruin your life in so many ways.

Drying laundry on balconies is seen by many people as an environmentally sustainable option to electric driers and Fair Trading’s model by-laws were recently changed to reflect that.

So if you can, try to live with it – think of it as your contribution to saving the planet.

What would you do if a neighbour’s laundry was in your face?  Join the Forum discussion HERE.

Newsletter

To subscribe (for free) to our weekly Flat Chat newsletter, bringing you links to our  latest posts, just click HERE.

scroll to top