Rent relief extended for landlords and tenants
The NSW government has extended its rent relief package to allow landlords to reduce the rent for their tenants without losing too much income. The Residential Tenancy Support package –…
Covid-19 in strata
Strata blocks have been likened to vertical cruise ships when it comes to their potential for speading the disease. Here are stories that represent our coverage of the issues. NB: Some of the Covid-19 references are in subsidiary parts of the story and some facts and figures may have been overtaken by more recent events.
Podcast: Pets to lets – 200 columns and counting
How has apartment living in Australia changed in the past four years? The answer is a lot, but still too little. This week, we celebrate our 200th column in the…
Unit block cleaners ‘must be cleared to fight Covid’
Sydney’s leading high-rise services provider says NSW Health’s reluctance to designate apartment block cleaners and building facilities managers as essential workers is turning buildings into potential breeding grounds for the…
NSW Health nudges the needle on reno rules
Health NSW has acknowledged (but only just) that strata residents deserve a bit more protection from noise and potential covid-19 transmission, in its latest Covid-19 advisory. Nudging the needle on…
Forum: Under water but over-insured
It’s not often that you hear people complaining about being over-insured but, hey, this is strata and anything can happen. In a nutshell, an owner installed a nice new timber…
Confusion reigns over blockdown renovations
NSW Health and Fair Trading seem to be struggling to keep up with each other over whether or not renovations are allowed in apartment blocks. According to a Health spokesman…
Podcast: Lockdown PHO a strata dog’s breakfast
We had a new PHO out last week – that’s a Public Health Order, not a Vietnamese noodle soup – and as we discuss in the pod, it’s more of…
Covid-busting comfort food kitchen: Pizza toast
No 2 in our lockdown-relieving, takeaway-avoiding, money saving and fun recipes for easy comfort food … with a little extra. This week’s comfort food recipe could not be simpler –…
Tenants and pets – how to get a home with yours
In these times of enforced isolation, pets have never been more valuable for their comfort and companionship. But there is still resistance among many landlords – and strata schemes, for…
Unmasked: How NSW Health doesn’t get strata
There’s an old saying that you should never ascribe to malice anything that can just as easily be explained by stupidity. With that in mind, we can only assume that…
Ironically, Covid-19 does discriminate after all
They say the Covid-19 virus doesn’t discriminate, but that is, of course, utter BS. If you were born into a culture where social interaction within extended families – including physical…
Podcast: Shhh … the future will be a lot quieter
On this weeks’ Podcast Sue Williams and JimmyT explore the differences if any that our current locked down, work-from-home life will make to the way we build and live in…