Our invitation in our last newsletter for you to suggest new topics for us to write about brought a few suggestions. That’s not to say that there’s a shortage of material, just that our obsessions may differ from yours.
One Flatchatter wanted to some practical information on flammable cladding and the effect of new laws. What do buildings need to do rather than just getting a consultant out to inspect?
Good point. Once you’ve been inspected and flammable cladding has been found, you can’t just sit on the information, for two main reasons.
Firstly, the owners corp has an unlimited responsibility to maintain and repair common property. Secondly, your building insurance will either be prohibitively expensive if you do report it or invalid if you don’t.
So start working out how you are going to replace it and, when it comes to the cost, whether or not you can make the developer pay for it.
Anyone with practical experience of this is very welcome to chip in on the Forum.
Another question was about strata schemes entering into parking enforcement agreements with local councils. “No councils seem to be aware of this change in the legislation,” says the perplexed Flatchatter.
The law allowing strata schemes to get local councils to patrol their car parks was one of the great furphies of the 2016 strata law changes.
Only one council that I know of has done a deal with a strata scheme – and that was because emergency vehicles couldn’t get to the building because of cars parked illegally on long common property driveways.
Councils were never going to patrol enclosed car parks anyway, for safety reasons, and the others don’t offer enough revenue to cover the costs.
Again if anyone has any actual experience of this, drop a line into the Forum.
Still on parking, a reader in Victoria wants to know what can legally be done about illegal parking in visitors car spaces.
Good question – here’s hoping a Victorian reader can untangle the Vic laws and give us some practical hints on how they deal with this universal issue down there.
Meanwhile, there’s a bumper crop of questions and answers on the Forum this week.
What can you do about an abusive and aggressive neighbour who insist on placing their bins on your garden, then embarks on a campaign of disruption and abuse when you complain? That’s HERE.
Some short-stay letting hosts ARE good neighbours and are no fans of Airbnb either. And if city people can let country weekenders when they’re not being used, why can’t county people let out their city pads? That’s HERE.
The landlord and the owners said this Flatchatter could have a dog but the owners corporation have said no way because the dog owned by the previous tenant of that same unit caused terrible problems. Is this the end for the poor doggie and his owner? We say, probably not. That’s HERE.
We’ve been told we’ll lose our landlines when NBN comes to our building. So what happens to the emergency lines in the lifts? Service providers are circling – asking for thousands to provide an alternative. That’s HERE.
My tenant didn’t tell me she was going to be working from home and now she’s demanding compensation for noisy building works, elsewhere in the block, that disturbed her all day. Do I have to pay the $6,000 she wants? That’s HERE.
A handyman resident installed a keypad entry lock and intercom system free of charge – but now it’s starting to break down. Who’s allowed to work on common property? That’s HERE.
There are a lot more questions and answers on the Flat Chat Forum – and new ones every day. And, if you haven’t done so already, pop your email address in the Newsletter registration box on the right, to get a fresh update every week.
