Forum: Is it okay to record committee meetings?
The vexed question of whether you are allowed to record strata committee meetings has raised its head again – with new complications for the modern age. First of all, it…
Podcast: Cheap shots and affordability under fire
A slightly shorter but more pointed podcast this week as Sue reports on plans to demolish two affordable-rent apartment blocks and replace them with one luxury block with fewer presumably…
Fake news clickbait over ‘neighbour from Hell’
It’s rare that we are inspired to quote Shakespeare, even as we strut and fret upon the strata stage. But there’s a story in Domain in the Sydney Morning Herald…
Show me the missing strata money
You’d think that strata buildings would notice if money is missing, given how frugal they are. But, in NSW there’s more than half a million dollars of uncollected strata money…
NSW tips more millions into defect detectives
Life must be pretty sweet for the former NSW Fair Trading civil servants who were tipped into the Building Commissioner’s defects taskforce. No longer do they have to deal with…
Forum: Insurance bumped up because of Airbnbs
Here’s a dilemma that I’ve been waiting to see crop up in the Forum for a couple of years now – can short-term letting hosts be charged the difference if…
Podcast: Nimby dog whistles and microflats
This week we take a swing at polarising polititicians who are hoping to fire up the Nimbys against medium-density housing.They know it’s what the state needs, they know it will…
New Chandler video exposes ‘another Mascot’
Building Commissioner David Chandler believes another Mascot Towers may have been avoided thanks to his department’s intervention in a high-rise development in Wollongong. “The nightmare at Crown View in Wollongong…
Back to the future with company title flats
Before strata titles existed, most apartments were company title schemes. Many survive today despite the generally perceived advantages of strata title. Why? And are they a genuine alternative way to…
Micro apartments are a big deal for renters
A build-to-rent micro-apartment block is getting rave reviews from its first residents and catching the attention of politicians desperate to find solutions for the dire lack of affordable housing in…
Forum: Are no-pets by-laws back by stealth?
Here’s a blast from the past: A Flatchatter is thinking of buying into a strata villa and has discovered it has a “no pets” by-law. “Weren’t they outlawed after the…
Podcast: Balcony singer in strata soap opera
The Podcast takes a musical twist this week when we discuss the ear-bending plight of residents of four apartment blocks in Eastwood who have been subjected to – or privileged…