Owner incensed by holy smoke
Ah, the gentle tinkle of a tiny temple bell, the whispered chant of a Buddhist prayer, the barely visible thread of smoke from an incense stick. What could be more…
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.
When renting a unit beats buying a house
The news last week that the Reserve Bank of Australia thinks young people might be better off renting rather than buying had a resonance in strata more than any other…
Long-term pain in short-term shame
An odd little coincidence occurred in the past few days. In the same week that we discovered, almost tragically, that students and young tourists were being housed in shipping containers…
Shipping containers of shame
Shipping containers of strata shame The other day I put a dark thought into the mind of a contact in the NSW government. Fair Trading has been running a campaign…
Strata law reform gunned down
The NSW Government has put on hold strata law changes that were due to come in this month – including allowing a majority of owners to sell units from under…
How short-term lets distort the rental market
Forget the buck’s night strippers’ glitter clogging up the lifts, the weekend footy fans vomiting in the stairwells and the country kids doing cannonballs in the communal spa, there is…
Curious case of a cat and an iPhone photo
The fur is flying in a strata battle over an illegal cat and a sneaky iPhone photo. It starts with a Flat Chat reader who tells us she inherited an…
How to beat brat dumping
Brat dumping – when parents buy an apartment for their teenage or young adult offspring so they can offload the results of their lack of child rearing skills on to…
Dementia sufferer wants to be elected
Ageing is not an issue that we immediately associate with apartment living … but it should be. Retirees and empty nesters are among the largest social groups moving into apartments.…
Landlords caught in repairs trap
Which law do I break? That’s the dilemma facing landlords whose tenants are suffering because of a failure of owners corporations to repair and maintain common property. “I keep having…
Brake on forced unit sales
The whole question of whether a majority of owners can vote to sell their entire building, bulldozing the objections of those who would rather stay, is the hottest topic in…
Passions high when strata owners start shooting
As more details emerge (here) of the strata dispute that led to the shooting at an executive committee meeting in Lakemba, the arrest of an elderly owner and the fracturing…