Podcast: Contracts, advice and rotting blocks
Jimmy and Sue give a qualified welcome to a new strata guide and discuss the criticism of strata management contracts and the claims about rotting blocks in Victoria.
Victoria
Hundreds of Vic blocks rotting from inside
Two years ago the ABC and Flat Chat reported that cladding remediation was revealing big problems with apartment blocks in Victoria. Now a government report claims half of the blocks…
Airbnb hosts face Vic tax and apartment bans
Victoria is reversing its open slather policy on short-term holiday lets with new regulations to come into force at the start of next year that will tax holiday lets and…
‘Spies’ expose sub-standard rental properties
Undercover renters who inspected rental homes in Victoria have found that a disturbing number still fell short of the state’s minimum standards required for such properties – especially at the…
Podcast: And now the good news… for some
There’s some good news, some bad news and some great news in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap. The good news (for investors) is that apartment prices and rents are going…
Vic Greens flex muscle for curbs on Airbnb and rents
The Victorian Greens have put demands for curbs on short-term holiday lets like Airbnb at the heart of their push for reform of the state’s housing policy. And they are…
Holiday let tax could be a win for all – except hosts
With an Airbnb tax planned in Victoria and a 60-night cap approved in NSW, the free rein for STHLs is clearly coming to an end, with hidden benefits for everyone…
Forum: Newlyweds’ dream shattered by shonk
There’s a sad tale from Victoria on the website this week, concerning a newly-wed couple who put their hopes, dreams and First Homeowners grant into a two-bed flat in Prahran.…
Burned and spurned by a phoenixing developer
People have recently asked what my problem is with Victoria. Actually, it’s a number of things, including a serious dearth of transparency, accountability and due process for owners who have…
Strata peace and harmony start with respect
Julie McLean, President of the Victorian branch of Strata Community Australia, addresses the problem of bullying in strata schemes – and what we can do when verbal push comes to…
Vic Gov deaf to strata cries for help, says SCA
In her second post to Flat Chat, Julie McLean, President of SCA Victoria (the strata professionals’ body), wonders why the state’s strata owners’ and residents’ desperate cries for help go…
Podcast: Dark days, but the Eve of Destruction?
With the media dominated by the passing last week of Barry Humphries and Fr Bob Maguire, our Artificial Intelligence first-rough transcriptions service managed to conflate our brief tributes to both…