Landlords breaking laws
Hundreds of strata landlords are breaking the law. Make that thousands … Hell, make it tens of thousands – nobody really knows. What we do know is that it clearly…
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Window of opportunity for child safety
There are some very good reasons for the plan to force limiters to be fitted on to strata windows to stop young kids falling out of them. The fact that…
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…
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…