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…
Party animals plan masks limp Airbnb code
It’s easy to spot when a state government policy on controlling short-term letting might have serious holes in it – Airbnb and other holiday letting (STHL) operators say they’re happy…
Rents rollercoaster as Airbnbs abandoned
Rents in Sydney’s suburbs have been on a rollercoaster for the past few months, with the obvious culprit being the Covid-19 pandemic and all its side-effects. But while some areas…
Electric cars – just another strata power struggle
When you think about it, we have been brainwashed by petrol pumps. You roll up, unscrew the filler cap, stick the nozzle in, fill up, pay your money and leave.…
Bathed in glory – smaller bath is bigger inside
Part 5 of the Bathroom Chronicles. It has taken me about 20 years to realise something fundamental about our bath. The reason it fits so perfectly into the slot behind…
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,…
Loneliness of the high rise residents left behind
Is there such a thing as “undercrowding”? There may well be with the centres of some of our biggest cities turning into ghost towns as Covid-19 restrictions bite, workers flee…
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…
That sinking feeling and the insanity of vanities
Part 4 in the Bathroom Chronicles Choosing bathroom fittings is like starting an online dating relationship with someone who seems smart and stylish at first but turns out to be…
Forum: Garden gate-gate opens a can of words
It’s good to get a result in short order, especially as strata disputes can drag on for months, if not years. Last week a Flatchatter wrote to us that a…