No smoke without ire in vicious balcony battle
When Flatchatter Sorrel (not her real name) tried to do something about smoke drift from her new neighbours’ balcony into her home she found herself in a year-long battle that…
Forum: SC members get $5K cards for spending
How much do you trust your committee members? Would you give them or even just your office-bearers each a $5k debit card so they could pay bills as and when…
Parking madness and the race for visitor spaces
Every so often we conduct semi-serious polls on the Flat Chat website; they’re far from scientific but they do offer some insight into the collective strata mindset. Recently, we asked…
Lock up and Leave: It just has to be Japan
We usually have a bit of a debate about our pick of the week but the one that jumps out at us this time around is a small-group luxury tour…
New strata laws ease through NSW parliament
The most radical shake-up of strata law in Australia since the current Act came into force in 2016 could, at a push, be in place by Christmas. Changes to NSW’s…
Chandler’s power boost as phoenixing under fire
Dodgy developers who use phoenixing schemes to defraud apartment buyers and deprive them of their legal rights will suffer another blow next week when the NSW parliament is expected to…
Podcast: Designer blocks and Broadway shocks
In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap we talk about the proposal to introduce architectural pattern books in NSW. Will they mean even more cookie-cutter apartment blocks or will it simply…
Forum: Hoarder leaves us with another fine mess
This week’s weird and not-so wonderful story comes straight out of one of those TV reality shows about hoarders getting their home cleaned up for free. Our Flatchatter has a…
Lock up and leave: Golf and spa resort in Fiji
Nothing divides vacationers quite like golf. There are some for whom it’s an obsession, they can spend hours hooking, slicing and missing putts but it only takes one perfect shot…
Eight billion reasons owners are ripped off
A story in last weekend’s Australian Financial Review makes grim reading for anyone concerned about the spreading trade in management rights into NSW and Victoria from Queensland. We always knew…
Double insurance relief for most strata owners
NSW apartment owners could be paying less for insurance next time they renew their policies due to the government’s decision to scrap the Emergency Services Levy (ESL). And since all…
Podcast: Management rights an $8bn business
Some big, big issues have shuffled shamelessly into the glare of the podcast spotlight his week. Firstly we talk about the buying and selling of management rights and how that…