NSW to crack down on strata manager scams
The NSW State government is planning to crack down on the “small number” of “unscrupulous” strata managers whom it says are undermining public confidence in apartment living. New laws will…
strata
Forum: Unelected despot bullying tenants
There is a malaise that must be unique to strata buildings – an ordinary owner awards themselves extraordinary powers and appoints themselves de facto building or strata manager. It’s not…
Podcast: Tax fixer-uppers and strata spies
The tax office is targetting double-dipping landlords who claim all sorts of things they shouldn’t, or just claim for stuff the wrong way.For instance, property investors routinely claim levies as a tax…
JimmyT eats his words… and they taste great!
Unless you are avid listeners to our podcasts, you may not realise that a month or so ago Jimmy took himself off to Saigon, Vietnam, for a couple of weeks…
ATO targets double-dip landlords and tax fixers
As we hurtle towards the end of the financial year, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is warning rental property owners that their tax returns are in the spotlight this time…
Forum: Is it okay to record committee meetings?
The vexed question of whether you are allowed to record strata committee meetings has raised its head again – with new complications for the modern age. First of all, it…
Podcast: Cheap shots and affordability under fire
A slightly shorter but more pointed podcast this week as Sue reports on plans to demolish two affordable-rent apartment blocks and replace them with one luxury block with fewer presumably…
Fake news clickbait over ‘neighbour from Hell’
It’s rare that we are inspired to quote Shakespeare, even as we strut and fret upon the strata stage. But there’s a story in Domain in the Sydney Morning Herald…
Forum: Insurance bumped up because of Airbnbs
Here’s a dilemma that I’ve been waiting to see crop up in the Forum for a couple of years now – can short-term letting hosts be charged the difference if…
Podcast: Nimby dog whistles and microflats
This week we take a swing at polarising polititicians who are hoping to fire up the Nimbys against medium-density housing.They know it’s what the state needs, they know it will…
New Chandler video exposes ‘another Mascot’
Building Commissioner David Chandler believes another Mascot Towers may have been avoided thanks to his department’s intervention in a high-rise development in Wollongong. “The nightmare at Crown View in Wollongong…
Podcast: Balcony singer in strata soap opera
The Podcast takes a musical twist this week when we discuss the ear-bending plight of residents of four apartment blocks in Eastwood who have been subjected to – or privileged…