Strata’s silenced majority needs to find its voice
When it comes to public speaking, are you a Nervous Nelly or the kind of orator who won’t stop talking until the microphone has been prised from your cold dead…
Coming to an Airbnb near you – self-isolating overseas travellers
We should have seen it coming. Opportunist Airbnb hosts are jumping in on the coronavirus quarantine restrictions by offering special “self-isolation” packages – including in apartment blocks. The packages include…
From the Forum: Mystery of the missing rent money
It’s kind of ironic that in the very week when we are highlighting the new residential rental laws, we receive a strange post from a tenant whose landlord refuses to…
Podcast 64: New rent laws but same old story with point-scoring pollies
In this week’s Podcast, Jimmy and Sue examine the plusses and minuses in the new NSW rental laws, which tilt things in tenants’ favour but don’t go all the way.…
Residents win as virus hits Airbnb where it hurts
They say it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good and the coronavirus gale that’s blasting though our holiday industry will be a breath of fresh air to one…
Are we living in ultraviral vertical villages?
An unfamiliar sight has appeared in the foyers and on the concierge desks of apartment blocks across Australia – hand sanitiser bottles. And that’s a good thing, because, while there’s…
New rental laws give tenants more rights
New laws for residential tenancies are about to come into force in NSW, with their general thrust being to make like better for renters. Given that more than half the…
From the Forum – Are holiday lets a gap in our virus defences?
How reliable against coronavirus are the health checks at our hotels and airports? Do they even exist? Sue Williams, our redoubtable Flat Chat roving reporter, has just returned from India…
Podcast 63: Cowboy builders, coronavirus and … toilet rolls
JimmyT and Sue discuss his long chat with the building commissioner, what you can do to avoid coronavirus in your apartment block and how Sue learned about the great Australian…
Commissioner to rebuild confidence with crackdown on cowboys
Six months into the task of rebuilding confidence for purchasers of new residential apartments in NSW, state Building Commissioner David Chandler claims the game is already changing. Mr Chandler, speaking…
Pets under threat from coronavirus overkill
With the debate about companion animals in apartments always bubbling just below the level of hysteria, the current outbreak of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) has many pet owners fearful that it could…
Fist-bumps might not keep coronavirus at bay
I had a disturbing encounter with a senior government official the other day, during which he coughed into his hand a couple of times, assuring me he was over the…