Qld plans more affordable homes, less hunger
The Queensland government may not have all the answers to its housing problems, but it certainly addressed most of the questions at its recent round table on the issue. From…
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How owners and media keep a lid on problems
Our media has a strange relationship with strata issues. It’s often a passive conspiracy of silence between journalists and owners, in which secrecy, confusion, erroneous assumptions and wilful ignorance either…
Forum: All fired up over EV safety in strata
There’s a bit of a stoush developing in the Forum over the charging of electric cars. If it’s not concerns about exploding batteries and subsequent fires, it’s worries about sneaky…
Property boss pushes more build-to-rent blocks
The head of the developer lobby group Property Council of Australia (PCA) has urged state and federal governments to give more support to the build-to-rent, student accommodation and retirement living…
Podcast: Vic, the state of strata chaos
It seems as if every time we look away from Victoria, some thing new and awful happens in that state’s strata system goes seriously wrong. If it wasn’t the best…
Aurora shambles exposes deep flaws in Vic strata
An owners’ revolt at a 1000-unit apartment building in Melbourne has highlighted the crippling inadequacies of Victoria’s strata laws and tribunal system. And it illustrates how a built-in lack of…
Free webinars on defects, waterproofing and S237
Waterproofing, the lack thereof or flaws therein, is consistently one of the most widely spread yet least understood issues in strata. However, the Owners Corporation Network (OCN) is making a…
Forum: Broken fence lets dog get at next-door cat
This week’s lead post has a tragic (and nasty) pet story at its heart as well as a twisty fence angle that will have all our legally minded Flatchatters intrigued.…
Forum: New flatmate peeved by pet pee pong
An unusual issue has cropped up this week and it has a surprisingly simple solution … or it would be if finding somewhere to rent in our cities wasn’t so…
Vic authority cracking down on phoenix builders
Victorian building companies who deliberately and repeatedly go bust to avoid paying debts have been put on notice, with the state’s Building Authority (VBA) working as part of the Phoenix…
Qld laws blocking relief for flooded residents
Relief and compensation for apartment owners whose homes were destroyed by Queensland’s floods are being blocked because of outdated laws that prevent the sale of apartment blocks unless all owners…
Turkey arrests builders of collapsed high-rises
Dozens of contractors were detained over the weekend in Turkey, as anger grows over the consequences of the devastating earthquakes and the government vows to take action against construction negligence…