Tenants put out by rubbish rota
Imagine you have settled into your new rented apartment and you get a notice slipped under your door saying you are required to take your turn putting out the communal…
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.
Unit block on wrong track
‘Close to transport’ is a big selling point for many homes – but you can be too close. Residents of one block of units in Sydney’s Surry Hills have discovered…
New laws blow cobwebs off old-style flatting
Remember Company Title – the Downton Abbey of apartment living? Well, not only is it not going away, in NSW it’s being polished up like the family silver, and made…
Yes, you CAN clamp
There are many myths around what you can and can’t do about rogue parking in strata schemes, as there are around much of strata life. ‘You can’t put stickers on…
Tenants with pets – UNWS wants YOU!
Hot on the paws of our apartment living great Dane story comes news of a world first survey of pets in rented properties. We love a statistic – did you…
Size matters for a great dog
We got a message the other day from a reader who has been given permission by her landlord to have a dog and the apartment block she’s renting in has…
Bad landlord and a broken family
You don’t hear about squatters much these days but this lengthy saga involves free-range occupants of a unit and the problems caused when a landlord won’t get involved. It concerns…
Who does the rental agent work for?
QUESTION: I have a concern with the property agent where I rent. Whilst a nice enough chap, he is terribly unprofessional and it seems like he is only interested in…
Picture this – rogue parkers in the frame
Can cars be camera shy? A question of parking paparazzi comes this week comes from a Flat Chat regular who wonders if he’s been breaking the law in his long-running…
Paying the price for peace and quiet
Here’s a story where I can’t decide whether the outcome is good or bad. It started when a colleague’s mother’s upstairs neighbours lifted their carpet and polished their floorboards. Mum…
Landlord from Hell roasted
The recent report on the ‘landlord from hell’ sparked a lively debate on the Fairfax Interweb pages. Basically it was a list of 31 do’s and mostly don’ts handed to…
Hot-wired for hot-bunking
On the subject of over-crowding and hot-bunking, how do all these people get into the buildings when Executive Committees start restricting the number of electronic keys available? OK, when there’s…