Double downsize eases squeeze
The future is here. Our better run strata blocks are already looking forward, asking what kind of building they want to be in five or ten years and, crucially, how…
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Lazy parkers face eviction
QUESTION: Our apartment block has external garages accessed by common property, Tenants park outside their garages – presumably because they can’t be bothered to enter. However, because we are right…
The beat goes on … an on
Nobody wants to discourage young musicians from nurturing their talents but it depends who is playing what and where and how often. QUESTION: The teenage son of a neighbour directly…
Ignorance not bliss in unapproved inprovements
I was posed a tricky question by a strata manager the other day: An owner replaces the common property sliding doors on to his balcony with much more sophisticated and…
The bro must go
QUESTION: When I rented my current share flat, my roomie told me he would only be there three or four nights a week, which was one of the reasons I…
Cage fight over parking space
This is an version, edited for publication, of a question that appears in full elsewhere in this Forum. QUESTION: We have a new owner in our block who wants to…
Garage gate grind
This is a version, edited for publication, of a question that appears in full elsewhere in this Forum. QUESTION: I rent a unit directly over the block’s electric garage door.…
Sad end – The whole story
On May21, I ran a column in the Flat Chat section of Domain about an elderly man whose flat was unfit for habitation and he was incapable of looking after…
A sad end
QUESTION: An elderly owner in our building has no relatives, is grossly overweight (about 200 kg), drinks excessively and the whole building smells when he opens his door when his…
Underfoot in bad company
In the days before strata, individual companies were formed to build apartment blocks and shares were sold, allowing purchasers to live in specific flats. There are still a few Company…
Ruling worries good landlords
QUESTION: In your story in last week about backpackers in flats, you said that landlords will be held responsible for tenants’ noise and disturbance. How can that ever work? Why…
Wild about neglected garden
It’s always a problem when the needs of a minority in a strata plan are going to cost the majority money. That’s even more true when there’s no appreciable benefit…