Forget the headlines about defects, pets, parking and underpants drying on balconies, the biggest news to come out of the new study into strata living is … drum roll … half of us don’t have any problems with our neighbours.
Unbelievable! It must be true what they say about the squeaky wheel getting the most oil because, far from the impression we get that every strata development in Sydney is a seething mass of misery and discontent, 49 percent of the respondents to a University of NSW survey into strata living said they either didn’t have any disputes in their complexes or they weren’t aware of any.
What? This is crazy talk! If this peace and harmony spreads I’ll be out of work.
But seriously, this denial of the all too common view that strata residents are constantly either at war with their executive committees or each other is a welcome dose of positivity.
And even when you look at the internal problems the other half of strata developments have, the picture is very different from the impression we get from the news pages. Smoking, even when it’s lumped in with other obnoxious smells, only just gets into the top ten of disputes.
Drying laundry on balconies? It’s even further down the list. In fact, when it comes to in-house aggro, strata residents seem more concerned with the practical and pragmatic than the aesthetic and idealistic.
Discounting breaches of by-laws which (at 59 %) literally covers a multitude of sins, the most common issues in strata are Parking (61%), Noise (50%), Rubbish (41%), Repairs and maintenance of common property (39%), Renovations within individual lots (38 %), Use of common property (36%), Pets (35%), Actions of the strata manager (28%), Access to common property (24%) and Smoking and other smells (24%).
The report, Governing The Compact City from UNSW’s Department of the Built Environment, did confirm however that with issues like parking, renovations and noise, way too many people are upsetting their neighbours.
You you’ll find the full report HERE and a summary HERE.