Double insurance relief for most strata owners
NSW apartment owners could be paying less for insurance next time they renew their policies due to the government’s decision to scrap the Emergency Services Levy (ESL). And since all…
insurance
Getting all fired up about ebike batteries in flats
Charging lithium-ion batteries inside apartments is rapidly becoming a burning issue for strata committees and fireys. It seems a day doesn’t go by without another eBike or electric scooter battery…
Pets and ‘forced sales’ strata laws to change
Major updates on the cards for four key areas while Property Services Commissioner to take on strata too. Pet ownership barriers, the cost of repair work, collective sales and compulsory…
Why unit owners can’t cut insurance to save
Fires in Hawaii, floods in Australia, earthquakes in Turkey and storms in New Zealand are likely to hit apartment owners in ways they can’t avoid. These natural disasters are driving…
Forum: Vexed question of in-house sex workers
There’s an arcane set of laws around both working from home in apartment buildings and about where sex workers can ply their trade. As far as working from home goes,…
Forum: Spat over rooftop spa and hot tub
Here’s a tricky one from Queensland – with a strong whiff of penthouse-envy motivating actions. The owner of the top floor apartment in his block has a spa pool and…
Forum: All fired up over EV safety in strata
There’s a bit of a stoush developing in the Forum over the charging of electric cars. If it’s not concerns about exploding batteries and subsequent fires, it’s worries about sneaky…
Forum: Blindsided by a sneaky committee coup
It’s a classic strata committee coup: on the TV show Survivor, it would be called a blindside. Obviously, someone in our Flatchatter’s strata scheme didn’t like the way things were…
Forum: ‘Not our problem’ by-law has huge flaw
Here’s a neat trick by a strata committee determined that owners should not take responsibility for anything in the building – potentially saving themselves a lot of dough. They have…
Forum: Dog runs free around shared pool
There are few things more likely to get strata residents’ noses out of joint than inconsiderate neighbours with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement. Not only did a couple move out…
Ten-year building warranty is a strata game changer
COMMENT: A crucial element in the NSW apartment building revolution has arrived with the first of the big insurers prepared to take a punt on Chandler’s five-star reforms. As we…
Building insurers back in the apartment game
When Building Commissioner David Chandler told us that his shake-up of new building standards in NSW would lead to a return of insurers providing cover for new apartment builds, there…