Forum: In strata everyone can hear you scream
There’s a couple of issues that merit close examination this week. The first is the plight of someone stuck at home and unable to get a minute’s peace because of…
You can’t be too clean with Covid-19 lurking
I have never been crash-hot on domestic cleaning. My natural indolence was once reinforced by a country farming woman who told me that she kept her house spotlessly clean, which…
JimmyT’s comfort food kitchen: Guacamole
Several years ago, I was paying for my small selection of groceries at a convenience store in Kings Cross, Sydney, when I noticed a young woman from Backpacker Central Casting…
Locked down? Free ‘grow your wellbeing’ webinar
If there was a society for the prevention of cruelty to plants, here at Flat Chat Central we would long ago have been led off in chains while our wilting…
Rent relief extended for landlords and tenants
The NSW government has extended its rent relief package to allow landlords to reduce the rent for their tenants without losing too much income. The Residential Tenancy Support package –…
Podcast: Pets to lets – 200 columns and counting
How has apartment living in Australia changed in the past four years? The answer is a lot, but still too little. This week, we celebrate our 200th column in the…
How Flat Chat grew from a bitter defects battle
Believe it or not, the 200th edition of Flat Chat to appear in the Australian Financial Review was published at the weekend. But that’s not half of it – not…
Unit block cleaners ‘must be cleared to fight Covid’
Sydney’s leading high-rise services provider says NSW Health’s reluctance to designate apartment block cleaners and building facilities managers as essential workers is turning buildings into potential breeding grounds for the…
NSW Health nudges the needle on reno rules
Health NSW has acknowledged (but only just) that strata residents deserve a bit more protection from noise and potential covid-19 transmission, in its latest Covid-19 advisory. Nudging the needle on…
Forum: Tree growing in neglected flat floor
In these days of housing shortages, it seems almost criminal that an apartment owner would allow a unit to lie empty, literally falling apart, then fight tooth and nail to…
Group wants to open more rentals to pet owners
Just a week ago we were on James Valentine’s Afternoons on ABC Radio discussing the plight of renters with pets – a topic we pick up in this week’s podcast.…
JimmyT’s comfort food kitchen: Macaroni cheese
After being shocked to discover Macaroni Cheese described as an “American classic” in a Sydney newspaper I was horrified to discover this calumny repeated by the normally reliable True Brit…