Alarming prospects when phone lines are cut
Within 18 months of the NBN coming to your suburb, all copper wires will be disconnected … potentially leaving you without a back to base fire alarm or emergency lift…
Cheaper electricity for strata schemes that are pro Choice
I had no idea about this until a Flatchatter asked if it was real. It does sound too good to be true, I admit, but our major sponsors Strata Choice have found…
Flat Chat 600 – Still crazy after all these years
Writing a new column – on the value of a good whinge, if you must know – I noticed that this would be our 600th Flat Chat. It’s true –…
Budget strata insurance now online
One of the most contentious issues in the new strata laws that came into force in NSW last year was the question of compulsory strata insurance and commissions paid by…
Roundup: Now strata residents have three amigos
Maybe it’s coincidence, maybe it’s a cunning plan, but the two MPs who had most to do with creating and establishing our new strata laws in NSW are now, after the…
New strata laws, same old dirty tricks
Now that the holidays are out of the way, the first of the year’s AGMs will soon be upon us. That will be the first time most of us will…
Renters lose but few owners gain with Airbnb, claims Sydney Uni report
More than half the empty rental properties in Sydney’s holiday hotspots are likely to be listed on Airbnb, according to a Sydney University report cited in a plea to new…
Roundup: If you leave us, Mr Dominello, can we come too?
I was chatting the other day with the strata Minister Victor Dominello (his proper title is Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation). I realised afterwards that, now that he has…
Meet airbnb’s public enemy No 1
Airbnb is a ‘sinister force’ that hides its true business, while its popularity distorts the housing market and overly influences politicians, says the Australian who is arguably, globally, the online…
Roundup: Drones and moans
Sometimes I wonder how closely people read my stuff. I was criticised by a couple of people for my “dirty tricks” story (below) being pro-airbnb. Huh? Just because they’re dirty…
Guerrilla warfare warning over holiday lets in apartments
Bogus by-laws, sneaky shut-outs and strangulation with red tape are all likely to be employed to keep holiday lets out of apartment blocks that don’t want them, say Sydney’s building…
Roundup: A fair go for proxy people
Happy New Year and welcome to 2017, arguably the biggest year in apartment living in NSW since our state inflicted this particular method of sharing our space on an unsuspecting…