Podcast: Rents, rooftops and electrical resistance
We all know there’s a housing shortage and we are seeing signs of overseas workers and students coming back to our cities, so it should be no surprise that rents…
Curb your balcony barbies before they are banned
OPINION: The recent about a successful case brought by a NSW couple to prevent their neighbours from smoking on their balcony, and their call for a state-wide ban, raised the…
Owners demand covid plan for apartment blocks
Apartment owners have called on the next government in NSW to come up with a coherent plan for what apartment managers can and should do in the event of another…
Forum: Strata Managers under serious scrutiny
Strata managers have shuffled into the Forum spotlight this week, prompting questions about, it seems, lack of knowledge or understanding of basic strata law. Take a co-owner self-nominating for election…
Webinar to tackle common property questions
Is the wall between my bathroom and lounge room common property? What about my ceiling? Or my floating timber floor? The questions of what is or isn’t common property and…
Podcast: BBQs and secret committee meetings
A couple of issues popped on to the Flat Chat radar while we were off being festive. One was all about smoking on balconies which, if that wasn’t serious enough,…
Thousands of homes to lose rental protection
Thousands more renters will face serious financial challenges this year as subsidised properties drop out of a national affordable housing scheme, claims housing pressure group Everybody’s Home. Its spokesperson says…
Light up! Why states won’t ban balcony smoking
The recent win by NSW apartment dwellers over their balcony smoking neighbours sent a puff of panic through strata smokers and their barbecuing brethren. However, nicotine addicts need not have…
Forum: We’re back and we’re parking mad
Happy New Year! Well, you have been busy bees over the holidays. All those questions you’ve wanted to write but never had the time … until now. So we’re back…
A funny thing happened on the way to the podcast
OK, I admit it – we’ve been in holiday mode. Could we have cobbled together a podcast on Sunday morning after New Year’s Eve (or Hogmanay, as we call it…
Smoke drift battle exposes NCAT’s farcical flaws
The recent Sydney Morning Herald story about a couple who – at the third attempt – won a case to get their neighbours to stop smoking on their balcony may…
Don’t just sit there, resolve to get involved
Have you made your New Year’s resolutions? Yes, it’s that time of year when we make promises to ourselves to do better than we did last time around. They tend…