$3m council grant but no affordable homes
Big promises keep coming, so why do affordable homes still feel out of reach? Yet another affordable housing site is on the market again ...
Issues
The main politics and trends in strata living
IMHO: A quick strata fix is better than no fix at all
Subscribers to the Flat Chat Newsletter get a weekly dose of my personal musings on the topics of the week, along with our round-up of recent posts, so I though…
How to speak strata insurance like a native
This week we introduce a new voice to Flat Chat. Our old friend Francesco Andreone, former strata lawyer, now consultant, has his own website which produces a couple of insightful…
Brell quits top SCA roles as Netstrata saga rolls on
The allegations in an ABC News article, about strata managers Netstrata have seen its CEO Stephen Brell, step down as Strata Community Association (SCA-NSW) President and resign from its board.…
Sydney officially our worst city for renters
Renters are being driven out of our major city centres, with students, pensioners and low-income workers especially suffering in the current affordability crisis, according to the annual National Shelter-SGS Economics…
Getting all fired up about ebike batteries in flats
Charging lithium-ion batteries inside apartments is rapidly becoming a burning issue for strata committees and fireys. It seems a day doesn’t go by without another eBike or electric scooter battery…
Heading for a showdown with strata shonks
At the first AGM of a new apartment block, owners are expected to approve all sorts of contracts – but what if they are being misinformed, misled and ripped off?…
Vic Greens flex muscle for curbs on Airbnb and rents
The Victorian Greens have put demands for curbs on short-term holiday lets like Airbnb at the heart of their push for reform of the state’s housing policy. And they are…
Time to get ready for your next strata disaster
Between the dire warnings of the doom-scrollers and the blinkered “she’ll-be-right” vision of climate denialists, it’s hard to know what the coming summer will bring in terms of crisis and…
Low-cost homes lost in the ‘missing middle’
There’s a growing body of opinion that low-rise apartment blocks could provide a compromise solution to the housing crisis – if only Nimby councils would allow them. Once upon a…
Fonzie Flats could mean happy days for renters
If you’re old enough to remember growing up in Australian suburbia surrounded by houses on quarter acre blocks, you should remember the Fonze from Happy Days. He was part of…
Game On – let’s wargame the housing crisis
You often hear politicians accusing each other of “playing games” with social and economic policy – especially when it comes to housing. But you have to wonder, if that were…