Election special: Home is where the votes are
With Australia’s political parties throwing promises of cash around like lottery winners who forgot they didn’t want publicity, our national housing crisis has been one of the more significant targets…
votes
Forum: Covid con trick as owners denied strata roll
Here’s a neat double standard straight out of the “Obstructive Strata Manager Handbook (Covid-19 edition).” Our Flatchatter’s partner has just been told by his strata manager that the scheme will…
Forum: Considerate owner has carpet conflict
They say no good turn goes unpunished and one Flatchatter certainly has a dilemma because she wants to do the right thing. On the one hand, in between tenancies she…
Forum: Back-scratching backsliders face big fines
There’s always likely to be a bit of mutual back-scratching on any strata committee, but when it runs to turning a blind eye to payments that should have been made…
Unintended consequences of late levies – lost jobs and voting rights
There’s a lot of chat at the moment about the pressure on people to pay levies when they might have lost their job or their income has been reduced. I…
Flat Chat Wrap #44 – Pet death threat and dodgy votes
In this week’s podcast JimmyT and Sue Williams look again at the issue of the overturning of the pet ban by-law in one of Sydneys biggest and poshest apartment blocks,…
From the Forum: Stray cats and rat runs
Some people like cats, others can’t abide them, but one Flatchatter is being driven nuts by some feral cats and, more to the point, the resident who feeds them. If…
From the Forum: Zombie proxies and dead levies
Here’s a question that becomes more relevant as increasing numbers of oldies move into strata … and then pass on. Obviously, the petty politics of strata schemes are the last…
Podcast: What the pollies are promising the strata voters of NSW
It’s hard to believe that we’ll be voting on Saturday (March 23) for, possibly, the first new government in NSW in eight years. It’s also hard to believe that we…
Coalition vows to make it easier to vote solar
Just when we thought the government didn’t care about strata they come up with a pre-election announcement designed to raise the high-rise feelgood factor. According to this story in the…
How Airbnb votes could shape state government
The spread of short-term holiday letting into residential homes could be a significant local factor in the up-coming state election, according to Independent Sydney MP Alex Greenwich. And, depending on…
Airbnb launches campaign against pro-resident MPs
Don’t say we didn’t warn you. Having had an easy ride from Australia’s mostly pliant politicians, Airbnb has warned that they will now use their considerable online clout to campaign…