Roundup: Monstered by tradies with trucks
I was in at the ABC doing my strata spot with James Valentine the other day and the question of monster trucks and the increasing squeeze in apartment block car…
Past Posts
These posts go all the way back to the raw versions of my Flat Chat columns for the Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain section over th e past 15 years. Some of the issues are specific to New South Wales, some are universal. There will almost certainly be differences in strata law between NSW and other states and countries and the laws have changed over that timespan too.
If you have a serious problem, contact the agencies (in Australia) listed in our contacts sections. Or contact a properly qualified and experienced strata lawyer. These columns should not be regarded as a substitute for professional legal advice.
City hosts strata living workshops
Sydneysiders can learn how to get the most out of apartment living in a series of free interactive workshops for apartment residents, organised by City of Sydney. The City has…
Roundup: Same-same strata shame in Singapore
Flat Chat has just returned from Singapore where they know a bit about building lots and lots of apartments for their booming populations – and face many of the same…
Strata management giant slugs unit owners millions
More than 200,000 unit owners have been slugged with compulsory ‘compliance fees’ potentially totalling millions of dollars, that critics have branded ‘gouging’. And the NSW Government Minister in charge of…
How to beat balcony bombers
Of all the neighbours in apartment blocks who can turn tolerant, accommodating, reasonable residents into screaming psychopaths, it’s not all-night party people, or weekend hobby home renovators, or barking dog…
Roundup: The upside of apartment living
We’ve been doing a fair bit of trumpet-blowing this week, what with being praised in state parliament, podcasts of our radio chats and all that. So, while we have our…
Finding positives in negative gearing
To many Australians, the connection between negative gearing and inflated property prices seems obvious. But would rents rise if it was scrapped? Reader John Byrne thinks he has a solution.…
Window lock shock – you must install but you can remove
Following the tragic events in Bankstown recently, when two young children fell three storeys from an apartment block window, there has been a lot of discussion on Flat Chat about…
Selling sharing: Airbnb facts, figures and flim-flam
Airbnb and the battle for your block: Last week Jimmy Thomson looked at how some politicians have been seduced by the myth that online short-stay letting agencies bring nothing but good…
Denial and delay won’t cure concrete cancer
Ignoring the health of your building isn’t bizarre behaviour, says one of Australia’s leading experts on concrete cancer. In fact it’s totally in line with the way we view our…
Flat Chat name-checked in Parliament (with video)
Flat Chat was named in Parliament today – in a good way. Sydney MP Alex Greenwich asked the new Innovation and Better Regulation Minister Matt Kean if the government would…
Roundup: The naked truth about a backyard nudist
There’s an odd little question in this week’s Forum, and one that I admit I didn’t take seriously at first. See, this bloke likes to get his kit off in…