‘Free money’ for blocks with budget shortfalls
Strata schemes are being offered what could be, if they choose, “free money” to fill the holes in their budgets created by owners defaulting on their levies. And assistance is…
Losers pay: Special levies mandatory for NCAT cases
Listen up all you litigious committee members! We have discovered something via the Flat Chat Forum that should make every strata committee in NSW think long and hard before they…
Doctor sells electric car after EV charging blocked
Confusion about strata by-laws has resulted in a busy doctor having to sell his electric vehicle (EV) and go back to a gas-guzzling, polluting car when his strata committee refused…
Covid housing response ‘fast but patchy’ – report
National and state governments’ housing policy responses to the pandemic were fast and mostly effective but too often it was left to landlords and tenants to carry the weight of…
Forum: Locked out as car park under repair
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: There’s a good old-fashioned strata barney going on over on the Flat Chat Forum. It started when a tenant was told by her property manager that…
Architect anger, developer delight at planning backflip
NSW architects have slammed the state government’s backflip on proposals to compel developers to include sustainable elements in new designs and steer clear of flood and bush-fire susceptible areas, labelling…
Podcast: Will data diving replace tenant checks?
A couple of weeks ago we received a press release from a company called Equifax who are a data analysis company that specialises in credit checks, among other things. Those…
After the deluge: when mould takes hold
With impeccable timing, given the OCN webinar on waterproofing today (Wednesday, April 6), here’s a Sydney Morning Herald Lifestyle section report by Sue Williams about how mould can come into…
The good, the bad and the strata manager
A few weeks ago we looked at the role of the building facilities manager in a block and how a good one can enhance liveability and property values while a…
Waterproofing worries tackled in webinar
The devastating rains of the past few weeks have wreaked havoc in the Northern Rivers area of NSW, as well as S.E. Queensland. Here in Strataland, they will also doubtless…
Forum: Lift repair plans come crashing down
QUESTION OF THE WEEK: You know things have come to a sad state in a block when the only way forward on a long-running and contentious issue seems to involve…
Podcast: Deposit option smashes avocado barrier
This week’s podcast discovers a new way of buying property – or at least putting down a deposit. The problem for many prospective home buyers is that, all the time…