Flat Chat website: Easier to find, simpler to use
We’ve been doing a bit of a renovation on the Flat Chat website, some of it obvious, some more subtle and none of it involving drilling or jack-hammering. For a…
Forum: Covid con trick as owners denied strata roll
Here’s a neat double standard straight out of the “Obstructive Strata Manager Handbook (Covid-19 edition).” Our Flatchatter’s partner has just been told by his strata manager that the scheme will…
TV’s Block buyers ‘could save millions on taxes’
The eventual buyers of the properties being renovated on the Nine network’s Block reality TV series could save millions of dollars in depreciation over the life of their investment. An…
Podcast: No-vax bans and climate denial warning
We cover a lot of ground in this week’s podcast, from local pandemic panics to global warming and the potential “scary” effect of political inaction on your mortgages. First up…
Heartbreak over Angus, the pet-ban busting dog
Angus, the pet-ban busting dog, has died. Singer Jo Cooper, who challenged her owners’ corporation’s “no pets” by-laws all the way to the NSW Court of Appeal – and won…
Strata schemes sweat over no-vax bans on facilities
Apartment blocks are considering banning unvaccinated residents from their shared facilities, but is it fair, legal or practicable? Sue Williams, masks up for this feature in Domain. Strata committees across…
Flawed strata thinking in hard flooring
There are many good reasons for installing timber or tiled floors in apartments – and just as many reasons why your neighbours won’t want you to do it. A timber…
Climate change inaction threatens interest rates
As if the threat of global warming wasn’t bad enough, inaction by our politicians could hit our hip pockets, with mortgage interest rates rising faster than sea levels, as Sue…
Forum: Family owns half the lots, rules the roost
I feel like we have wandered into the realm of strata nightmares this week. First up is a family that owns half the apartments in a small block and, surprise,…
Podcast: Defects detective Chandler’s candid chat
We have something of a star guest on this week’s podcast. Sue Williams, our regular co-host, has allowed us to dip into her recordings of her interview with Building Commissioner…
Hi-viz commish kicking butt and naming names
To some, he’s a knight in shining armour, a hero in a hi-viz. To others, he’s the devil incarnate. But wherever anyone might stand on the subject of rampaging NSW…
Why we’ll never see a ban on balcony barbies
With summer on the way, not to mention the proposed end to bans on having friends round for dinner, apartment residents all over Australia will be dragging their barbecues out…