FlatChatters

25/01/2025

New Post: New strata manager disclosure laws revealed Thanks to our Flatchatter Tina (https://buff.ly/40kZDUY), who posted this on the Forum (https://buff.ly/4gcIAdI), we now know what Fair Trading (https://buff.ly/2wmRvpk) has planned and how it will be enforced (if at all). You may not be aware of it because it was sent to strata committee members registered on the Strata Hub database (https://buff.ly/4huLNGF) and they were asked to pass it on to owners. So, if https://buff.ly/4gcOifo

25/01/2025

New Post: Forum: Up to speed, thanks to you Flatchatters We have to thank our alert Flatchatters for keeping us up to speed with what’s been happening in strata while we’ve been distracted this week. My excuse? I’ve been finishing my new crime novel – writing, not reading – and Sue has launched her latest historical fiction, The Governor, His Wife and his Mistress (https://buff.ly/4hs2G4B). So thanks to Flatchatter Tina for pointing out that there https://buff.ly/3PNGVjQ

24/01/2025

New Post: Netstrata wants some report findings scrapped Strata management giant Netstrata is reportedly trying to have some damaging findings removed from the latest draft of an independent report into allegations of misleading business practices. Netstrata has been accused of failing to fully inform clients about lucrative insurance commissions and broking fees while failing to obtain competing quotes for strata insurance policies in favour of its preferred insurers and taking kickbacks from suppliers. https://buff.ly/4h09iHA

24/01/2025

New Post: Podcast: Behind the strata trap, recapped With this being the last big holiday weekend of the summer, we thought we’d take a short break too. However, for a lot of people, this is exactly the time when they want to kick back on their sun lounger and listen to a podcast. So we thought we’d delve into our archives and bring you the most-listened-to podcast of last year. It will come https://buff.ly/3WqJpIP

23/01/2025

New Post: Podcast: Behind the strata trap, recapped With this being the last big holiday weekend of the summer, we thought we’d take a short break too. However, for a lot of people, this is exactly the time when they want to kick back on their sun lounger and listen to a podcast. So we thought we’d delve into our archives and bring you the most-listened to podcast of last year. It will https://buff.ly/3WqJpIP

18/01/2025

New Post: Forum: Entitled to be angry over unfair levies For some reason, the topic of Unit Entitlements is running hot in the Flat Chat Forum. In one thread, an owner wants to know how hard it is to change UEs that are clearly skewed and unfair. The answer is that, unless you have unanimous acceptance of the changes (in NSW and other major states) it’s not only hard but makes little economic sense. By https://buff.ly/4h1F8ny

18/01/2025

New Post: In-built pet care is the latest apartment lure Remember when there was a huge hoo-ha about whether pets could or should be banned from apartment blocks? Go back a little further and you’ll recall a time when “no pets” was as much a default in strata as proxy farming and leaky bathrooms. But now, pets are not only allowed, they are positively encouraged – and with almost 70 percent of Aussies sharing their https://buff.ly/4fZANQq

17/01/2025

New Post: Co-living brings the high life closer to home A growing trend in apartment styles in Europe and Asia could prove part of the solution to improving housing affordability at all levels in Australia, an industry expert has claimed. It involves building much smaller apartments into large developments, with communal spaces for working or relaxing, and it’s proving popular with everyone. “There is an increasing amount of investor interest and development in what is https://buff.ly/4am0A47

17/01/2025

New Post: Mind the gap as unit prices rise but houses fall Apartment price growth has outpaced the rate of house price growth for the second quarter of 2024 – the first time this has happened in two years, writes Sue Williams. It has left apartment prices in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth at record highs, according to the latest Domain House Price Report. They jumped by an incredible 28.2 per cent over the last year in https://buff.ly/40pUhbc

16/01/2025

Updated Post: Podcast: Bank rate hogwash, strata dog wash https://buff.ly/4jiI0h1

10/01/2025

New Post: Forum: Conflicting views on strata self-interest The whole question of conflict of interest comes up this week – and it’s one that can be a little curly. Now, in NSW, if a member of a strata committee has a financial interest in the outcome of a committee vote, they have to declare it and then leave the meeting, taking no further part in the discussion or the vote. The actual effectiveness

Is there a conflict of interest when you vote for something that only benefits you? Plus changing UEs, who pays for a broken intercom, and private property stored in a CP cage.

09/01/2025

New Post: Has Govt given green light to more red tape? The NSW government has come up with a novel way of cutting through the red tape and bureaucracy that are holding up the construction of much-needed housing and homes – by adding another level of bureaucracy and red tape. Okay, that’s a bit cynical. The government is inviting developers to put forward proposals to its newly minted Housing Development Authority (HDA) that will qualify for https://buff.ly/3BRW14K

09/01/2025

New Post: Podcast: Fast track flats put Nimbys on notice We are back in the saddle for the new year with the news that the NSW government has come up with a new way of tackling the bureaucracy and red tape that’s holding back housing construction – by adding what looks like another level of bureaucracy and red tape. To be fair, the intentions are good. Maybe more really is less, and the new Housing https://buff.ly/4h9l2ak

20/12/2024

New Post: Forum: Is this new proxy farming voter fraud? Some strata problems just keep coming back to haunt us. Take proxy farming, that sneaky tactic whereby strata committee members – usually chairs – would ask for proxy votes to “save owners going to meetings” then use them to wield autocratic power in their blocks. We thought that had been killed off by the 2016 NSW Act, but a Flatchatter has alerted us to a https://buff.ly/3ZZQfXI

20/12/2024

New Post: Forum: Voter fraud or proxy farming revived Some strata problems just keep coming back to haunt us. Take proxy farming, that sneaky tactic whereby strata committee members – usually chairs – would ask for proxy votes to “save owners going to meetings” then use them to wield autocratic power in their blocks. We thought that had been killed off by the 2016 NSW Act, but a Flatchatter has alerted us to a https://buff.ly/3ZZQfXI

19/12/2024

New Post: Poll votes reveal two distinct faces of strata There are two distinct communities that the Fair Trading minister needs to consider, if our poll, asking you which of the proposed new strata laws in NSW you like best is any guide. The first group comprises the long-suffering, established owners and residents who have been agitating for a fair deal for years. The others are the strata newbies who are often operating with blind https://buff.ly/400Xkrf

19/12/2024

New Post: Podcast: Strata struggles will still be alive in 25 Looking forward to 2025 involves a certain amount of looking back and we wonder this week what will happen, if anything, as a result of the long-delayed outcomes of investigations into Netstrata in particular or strata management in general. And we look at the proposed new strata laws for NSW. Jimmy speculated that the least likely to make it all the way is the plan https://buff.ly/4gL6ePb

12/12/2024

New Post: Forum: Growing pains for a strata garden There’s a very good example in this week’s Forum of why some training for strata committee members – and ordinary owners too – would be a good thing. A couple of years ago a Flatchatter’s strata neighbours received permission from the committee to turn an ugly and neglected piece of unsused common property into a community garden. They paid for the seed, plants and soil https://buff.ly/4guAmy5