Double trouble for by-law breachers
If you are one of the many people who think that strata by-laws are just a bunch of blah and the new laws don’t really affect you (mainly because you…
Forum Roundup: sorting out the strataphobes
Sometimes you have an idea that is so brilliantly simple you know it doesn’t have a snowball’s chance of ever seeing the light of day. I was thinking the other…
City cracks down on holiday let tax dodgers
Another major tourist destination has joined the growing list of world cities cracking down on internet-based holiday letting hosts and their online agencies – like Airbnb and Stayz – saying…
‘Name and shame’ file draws rental agent anger
Did you know that NSW Fair Trading has started naming and shaming bad operators? For two months now there has been a list on its website of businesses that have…
Forum Roundup – 80 percent fail quiz pet poser
By the time you read this, the quiz I set on the new strata laws (below) will have been attempted by 4,500 readers. And it has thrown up some surprising…
New strata laws hammer DIY renos
As new strata laws free up the regulations on renovations, can we expect a fresh wave of ‘DIY-itis’ in our apartment blocks? Maybe the opposite is true. New definitions of…
QUIZ: 20 questions on the new strata laws
The new strata laws for NSW are are only two months away. So what’s changed? If you think “not much” you could be in for a rude shock. Have a go…
Roundup: Law and order – strata style
You’ve probably heard that the new strata laws will do away with the silly rule that meant, strictly speaking, you had to get a special resolution by-law to hammer a nail…
Fast-tracked strata disputes first go in-house
Dispute resolution in NSW strata schemes is about to get a lot easier. Whether it will be better remains to be seen. Under the new strata laws, due to…
Time we banned strata management cowboys
I was at the launch of a new strata management venture recently and one of the senior executives said to me: “You’re not as angry as you used to…
Roundup: Short-stay concerns for stars in flats
I was wondering this week about how some of the more famous residents of apartment buildings in touristy spots might feel if the parliamentary committee looking into the holiday letting…
Minister moves to curb forced sales fears
Apartment owners forced to sell their units under new strata laws could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in a controversial West Connex style value gap, it has been claimed.…