Barbecue smoke ban just hot air
So smoke from barbecues on high-rise balconies is about to be banned under NSW’s proposed new strata laws? What a load of baloney! The law has long forbidden people from…
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.
You move, you lose – at weekends
Can your owners corporation charge you for moving in and out at weekends? That’s the question asked recently by a Sydney apartment dweller – and the answer may surprise you.…
Short-term lets: ‘Sharing’ without caring
This article first appeared in Flat Chat in Domain. Click here for links to discussions on the Flat Chat Forum You may not have noticed, but a state parliament inquiry into…
Strata townhouses of horrors
If you read this originally in Domain in the SMH, you can read the original post HERE. We tend to think of the worst strata misery occurring in multi-unit high…
Flat Chat on TV
Hey, Ma! I’m on TV! A Current Affair picked up the “10 signs you should avoid some units” story and ran with it. You can see the link here there are…
10 signs you chose your unit well
Last week I wrote about the danger signs that tell you to give a potential apartment purchase or rental a bodyswerve. More than 80,000 people read that online in Domain and it’s…
Cut power to curb party animals
This Flat Chat column in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Domain section was based on THIS DISCUSSION on the Flat Chat Forum. We’re moving into party season, with footy finals,…
10 things that say ‘this flat’s not for me’
I was putting together a list for a feature on the things you should look out for when flat-hunting – the elements that should make you run a mile rather…
Key to curbing remote control freak
This originally appeared in Domain in the SMH and Financial Review. To read comments, click HERE. In strata more than anywhere else, it seems, there are certain kinds of people…
Cop this: Can police give permission for a noisy party?
Can you get police permission to hold a noisy party in an apartment block? Let’s say you live in a unit and you like to throw the occasional big party. …
Redefining off-the-plan rorts
Here are a few new definitions for your strata dictionaries: Sunset clawbacks: Where a developer in a ‘hot’ market allows a project to over-run its “build-by” date, uses the sunset clause…
Logic lost over land grab fears
When is a logical extension of your lot seen as a land grab? When someone in your strata scheme isn’t getting any benefit so they decide that you shouldn’t either.…