Podcast: Luxury pad threat to low-cost homes
It’s a bit of a catch-up in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap and a look to the immediate future, too. We’ll be getting abreast of the news that NSW is…
Featured
Common Property – all cost, little real value
In this week’s guest post from our friend Francesco Andreone of GoStrata, he’s going to make you think about assumptions we’ve all made about common property in our strata buildings –…
NSW to crack down on strata manager scams
The NSW State government is planning to crack down on the “small number” of “unscrupulous” strata managers whom it says are undermining public confidence in apartment living. New laws will…
Forum: Unelected despot bullying tenants
There is a malaise that must be unique to strata buildings – an ordinary owner awards themselves extraordinary powers and appoints themselves de facto building or strata manager. It’s not…
Podcast: Cheap shots and affordability under fire
A slightly shorter but more pointed podcast this week as Sue reports on plans to demolish two affordable-rent apartment blocks and replace them with one luxury block with fewer presumably…
Fake news clickbait over ‘neighbour from Hell’
It’s rare that we are inspired to quote Shakespeare, even as we strut and fret upon the strata stage. But there’s a story in Domain in the Sydney Morning Herald…
Show me the missing strata money
You’d think that strata buildings would notice if money is missing, given how frugal they are. But, in NSW there’s more than half a million dollars of uncollected strata money…
New Chandler video exposes ‘another Mascot’
Building Commissioner David Chandler believes another Mascot Towers may have been avoided thanks to his department’s intervention in a high-rise development in Wollongong. “The nightmare at Crown View in Wollongong…
Back to the future with company title flats
Before strata titles existed, most apartments were company title schemes. Many survive today despite the generally perceived advantages of strata title. Why? And are they a genuine alternative way to…
Micro apartments are a big deal for renters
A build-to-rent micro-apartment block is getting rave reviews from its first residents and catching the attention of politicians desperate to find solutions for the dire lack of affordable housing in…
Renters: How the other half (just about) lives
Half of all Australian strata apartments are investment properties that are tenanted. Strata renters must follow all the strata laws, by laws and rules but they have almost no strata…
Top thinkers at strata-fest, with added JimmyT
Ever wondered if there’s a better way of managing dysfunctional committees or disruptive committee members? Would an organisational psychologists’ advice help? How about keeping up with changes to strata law,…