Focus on defects and disasters, pocket $100
Want to add to academics’ collective knowledge about living in strata and all the … um .. challenges it presents, and score a couple of $50 vouchers for doing so?…
defects
Podcast: Strata’s next big challenge – ageing blocks
This week’s podcast is given over to one topic – but it’s a fascinating one: What are we going to do about Australia’s older apartment blocks? Sure, there’s been a…
High cost of choosing pros who tell porkies
We are conditioned to trust professionals, especially when they tell us what we want to hear. But what happens when they betray that trust and it costs us money, time,…
Podcast: Airbnb curbs and the intercom of doom
Like a wayward teenager who stayed out too late, Airbnb is creeping back into our lives, hoping to avoid our parental wrath, but finding a less than loving reception waiting…
Forum: Fight the builder or turn an blind eye?
There’s a doubly time-sensitive issue in one of our forum questions this week. An owner’s corp has forced their builder to fix some waterproofing issues but in testing the repairs,…
Govt. promises major strata fire safety revamp
There is a lot of confusion and anger in Strataland about fire safety, including who gets to choose what’s safe and what isn’t, and how a building that has passed…
NCAT delays force family back into mouldy unit
Unexplained delays by the NSW government’s property tribunal have forced a mother, her five-year-old daughter and her elderly parents to move back into their damp, mouldy apartment. Sarah Wu’s family…
Sea-change block blitz as commissioner heads north
Sea-changing apartment buyers tempted out of Sydney by the charms of NSW’s north coast – or driven out by fears of future lockdowns – may feel slightly more secure this…
Forum: Chihuahua driving neighbour barking mad
There can be few things worse in strata that finding yourself living next door to an incessantly yapping dog. Actually, there is: living next door to an incessantly yapping dog…
Forum: Tribunal rubber stamps illegal extension
For those of us who believe in law and logic, strata can be a bit challenging sometimes. Take Flatchatter Anne-X whose two top-floor neighbours took advantage of work in the…
Strata insurers must not forget a horrible history
There’s a statement about a proposal to invite insurance firms to provide building warranties for new apartment blocks – but only those constructed by the best builders – which may…
Podcast: See you soon … on your CCTV screens
Exactly who gets to view the recording from your strata scheme’s CCTV cameras? That’s a topic that’s been keeping us occupied on the Flat Chat Forum and now gets an…