State OKs replacements for flammable cladding
The NSW government says it has taken a major step forward in dealing with the removal of flammable cladding from the state’s 214 high-risk high rises – by approving four…
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Podcast: Airbnb update as holiday let regs put on ice
Sometimes you can be just too efficient. There we were with the NSW government’s proposed regulations on short-term letting hot off the printer, plus industry responses and reactions from apartment…
NSW should help Mascot owners … and why it won’t
It’s been almost two years since the residents of Mascot Towers were told their building was to dangerous to live in. Just last week they were advised to sell the…
Forum: “Can’t hear you” on pets just won’t work
There’s an unwritten rule in strata that committees are always less smart than they think they are. You can file that alongside “strata law is never just common sense” and…
Ghost parking – sweet revenge on a rogue parker
This may be too good to be true – and too delicious to reject out of hand – but we may have found a way of moving cars parked illegally…
Qld owners use pester power to curb contracts
Here at Flat Chat we have long campaigned against the “legalised corruption” of the pre-sale of caretaker management contracts in Queensland. There, for no better reason than to put more…
Messy message as final ‘airbnb’ code delayed
Late last week, when NSW Planning finally released the new regulations on short-term holiday letting – aka STRA, aka “airbnb” – there was something to annoy everyone. The proposals would…
Forum: Parking vigilante is breaking the law
Let’s be honest, if you’ve ever found someone else’s car in your parking spot, you’ll have been tempted just to park in behind it and leave it there, ignoring pleas…
Rents drop dramatically as apartment vacancies soar
There’s more bad news for apartment investors – which means good news for renters – as rents plummet and availability of units soars in Sydney and Melbourne. This is in…
Podcast: States’ split is rental as anything
This week, having survived a computer crisis on the home office front, we delve deeper into the differences between the way renters are treated in Victoria and NSW. In the…
Riding shotgun with our building commish
A couple of weeks ago, Sydney Morning Herald and Domain contributor Sue Williams accepted an invitation to see Building Commissioner David Chandler in action on a development site. How do…
Forum: Neighbour throws shade on plan to cut canes
What’s that thing they say about the squeaky wheel always getting the oil? In strata, it’s more likely to be the loudest voice that’s the only one heard. However, some…