Concern as 50,000 unit blocks reach use-by dates
Between Mascot Towers and the Opal building, and more recently Vicinity in inner-West Sydney, the high-profile problems at various Sydney apartment blocks has drawn our attention to the quality of…
Strata Defects
They range from minor issues with finishes to major structural and fire safety problems – and when repairs are rwuired , the buck stops with the owners. Hers are hundreds of posts that track the failures of the past and the current efforts to create a less defective future.
Forum: Something fishy going on down by the pool
One of the reasons I love this job is that, even though we are often asking and answering variations on the same questions, almost every week I get a query…
High cost of choosing pros who tell porkies
We are conditioned to trust professionals, especially when they tell us what we want to hear. But what happens when they betray that trust and it costs us money, time,…
Cut-price construction is a false economy
When it comes to cutting corners, skimping on construction costs in strata buildings is one of the most flawed false economies in our world. But while some outcomes are more…
Podcast: Airbnb curbs and the intercom of doom
Like a wayward teenager who stayed out too late, Airbnb is creeping back into our lives, hoping to avoid our parental wrath, but finding a less than loving reception waiting…
Trapped in a 50-floor block with no working intercom
It was once Australia’s tallest and most luxurious apartment building, but residents of the Sydney CBD’s Park Regis today live in less-than-splendid isolation. With the access intercom system having been…
Forum: Fight the builder or turn an blind eye?
There’s a doubly time-sensitive issue in one of our forum questions this week. An owner’s corp has forced their builder to fix some waterproofing issues but in testing the repairs,…
Govt. promises major strata fire safety revamp
There is a lot of confusion and anger in Strataland about fire safety, including who gets to choose what’s safe and what isn’t, and how a building that has passed…
NCAT delays force family back into mouldy unit
Unexplained delays by the NSW government’s property tribunal have forced a mother, her five-year-old daughter and her elderly parents to move back into their damp, mouldy apartment. Sarah Wu’s family…
New Vic strata laws target cronies and contracts
Strata laws have been given a major shake-up in Victoria – and it’s all about consumer protection. As well as including new rules for strata owners and committees, the new…
New laws to make owners fix common property
Strata schemes that are dragging their feet on repairs may be forced to undertake them, embedded networks that cheat apartment owners could be killed off, pet application fees could be…
Strata Matters numbers set to grow, Covid-willing
More Seats: Some clever reconfiguration of the seating has enable a few more people to be safely admitted to this venue. That means there is a handful of new seats…