Podcast 100: Upside of a stairlift stand-off
There are two major strands to this week’s podcast. The first stems from a question raised in the Flat Chat Forum, about an apartment owner who wants to install a…
Strata pets
There was a time in strata blocks when “no pets” was the default rule for apartment residents.
When the model by-laws in various states changed to allow residents to apply for permission to keep pets, which could not be unreasonably refused, “we have never allowed pets” was considered to be a reasonabe reason for refusal.
But times have changed and that is no longer the case, as you will read in these posts.
NB: Some of the stories in these pages go a long way back – check the dates as the laws may have changed. Also references to pets may be part of a larger story.
Fun and occasional fury as our podcast hits 100 eps
We’ve scored a century! This week sees us post the 100th episode of the Flat Chat Wrap – and that’s only counting properly produced and distributed episodes. We would have…
How your state’s strata laws are being upgraded
Just as different states have different strata laws, they have very different approaches to revising and updating them. NSW, Victoria and Queensland are all at various stages of reviews while…
Forum: Flooring breach bungle and flawed law
The main story from the Forum this week is a real comedy of errors, with a dash of misguided or mischievous bush-lawyering thrown in. A Flatchatter has written to us…
Podcast 99: Long-term rental will tempt tenants
This week we returned to a topic we raised in the last podcast, namely build-to-rent and specifically the new Liv Indigo building at Sydney Olympic Park. They held an open…
Podcast 98: A tale of two very different rentals
We are looking at two very different kinds of rentals this week. The first is build-to-rent apartments (which is definitely NOT affordable housing, regardless of what anyone else might tell…
Catastrophes and things that go bump in the day
Bathroom chronicles, Part 6. It has begun. In an exercise that had the military precision of a Dad’s Army assault gone slightly awry, we rounded up our cats and decanted…
Forum: Is ancient wiring too big a risk to keep?
Here’s a question that will resonate with owners in older buildings. When your block’s electrical wiring isn’t good enough to safely power a domestic oven, should the owners corp be…
Podcast 97: Renovation – best-laid plans (and tiles)
It’s renovations all the way in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap as we chat about a Forum post asking what can be done about a disastrous and unauthorised renovation, now…
Forum: Reno nightmare owner selling up
This week’s lead Forum post is a strata nightmare. It starts when a hobby renovator undertakes a major revamp of his flat, knocking down walls, adding staircases, shifting rooms, ripping…
Podcast 96: Pets, rents and new age steam trains
People who don’t care about pets in apartments shouldn’t switch off just yet, regardless of how bored you are with the whole issue. It has implications for everyone in apartments,…
Pets in apartments: the dogfight is just beginning
The big question swirling around “no-pets” blocks in NSW, following the Court of Appeal’s decision against the Horizon building’s by-law last week, is “what next?’ And the answer is probably…