Poll votes reveal two distinct faces of strata
Our online poll has revealed two different communities that need support in strata - long-suffering old hands and naive newbies who may not know what they're getting into.
owners
Sapphire: Shattered dreams or a bullet dodged?
Work has halted on the near-complete Sapphire development, leaving initial investors frustrated and angry as they decide whether their shattered dreams are really a bullet that they've dodged.
Aurora shambles exposes deep flaws in Vic strata
An owners’ revolt at a 1000-unit apartment building in Melbourne has highlighted the crippling inadequacies of Victoria’s strata laws and tribunal system. And it illustrates how a built-in lack of…
Podcast: BBQs and secret committee meetings
A couple of issues popped on to the Flat Chat radar while we were off being festive. One was all about smoking on balconies which, if that wasn’t serious enough,…
Overexposed strata chairs may hide from the Hub
Executive committees could be about to see a mass exodus of office-bearers as a new register of strata schemes takes effect in NSW next month, warn insiders. Simply put, some…
Commissioner to expose defect-dodging owners
Owners who deliberately hide building defects could be the next targets of Building Commissioner David Chandler, with defective buildings and their owners corporations potentially being named and shamed, just as…
Free webinar aims to counter strata confusion
Any regular reader of this website will know that the lack of knowledge about and understanding of strata issues can range from the hilarious to the heart-rending. “How can I…
Podcast 96: Pets, rents and new age steam trains
People who don’t care about pets in apartments shouldn’t switch off just yet, regardless of how bored you are with the whole issue. It has implications for everyone in apartments,…
Podcast 95: pet ban block, websites and a new book
The big strata news of this week stopped us in our tracks. The NSW Court of Appeals has overturned a decision by the strata tribunal (NCAT) which, earlier this year,…
Podcast 94: Tax shock and giving loans some credit
It’s a bit of a Budget special on Flat Chat this week, if only because we are talking about money. Specifically we are discussing the personal taxes that you probably…
Podcast: Now you can read it as well as listen
This week’s podcast is all about wheel-clamping, email privacy and the amazing legacy of the Sydney Olympics athletes’ village. But one of the biggest pieces of news this week is…
Roundup: Airbnb’s MP mates offer a crumb of discomfort
Finally we get the Government’s short-term letting laws – or at least the proposals – and they turn out to be little more than a “surrender tackle” on Airbnb with a half-hearted and…