FLAT CHAT WRAP

It feels like the dust has settled  a little too quickly on the Netsrata Scandal, as exposed by ABC TV.  There has been no public statement on it from the state government or their professional body, Strata Community Australia (NSW).But strata managers are hurting, as even the most cursory skim of LinkedIn posts will attest.  The good operators know they are being tarred with the same brushes that have seen the SCA-NSW President resign - and it doesn't feel fair or good.You could argue that they only have themselves to blame. Did they know what the bad actors in their industry were doing? And if they did, why didn't they ring that alarm bells?  Well, we know the answer to that.  Whistleblowers soon find themselves out in the cold and out of work in this country.That said, it was a senior strata manager who first brough the dodgy dealings of embedded networks to our attention. And an ex-employee of Netstrata contributed to the report that blew the lid off those shenanigans.With all that in mind, we set out in this week's podcast to find a way forward for the strata management industry - some simple fixes that would restore some pride and confidence in the profession.However, as we discovered, once you open any can of worms, there's a lot of wriggling going on.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Are we building the wrong kind of apartments for families? There’s a very interesting report in the Sydney Morning Herald about a survey that suggests that the cookie-cutter apartment designs we see all around us may be fine for singles and couples but are all the wrong shapes and sizes for families with growing kids.How can this be?  For a start, a two-bed units – three-bedders are well outside the price range for most young families –  are configured with a main bedroom, maybe with an ensuite (if you’re lucky) and a smaller room as the guest bedroom.OK, Mum and Dad can give up the big room if they have two kids and let them share it (as they do in the SMH story) but surely it would make sense to have three smaller rooms and call it a family unit, or have more flexible internal configurations.  More on that in the podcast.We discuss the suggestion that we should be building more apartments over railway stations and rail lines.We hear about Sue’s new book Run For Your Life, the true story about a family fleeing Russian oligarchs by hiding for three years in the Dampier Peninsula in the remote north of WA.  What’s the connection with Flat Chat (apart from Sue)? Dad was structural engineer who was an expert in steel and glass (okay, a bit tentative). If you are interested, the book’s first launch in Sydney (there are others in Perth, New Zealand and London) is on Wednesday April 17 from 7pm-8pm at the Mosman Library. Sorry, apparently you have to book in advance, ie asap, and pay for it too ($11 or concessions $9). Click HERE for more details to book. The second Sydney launch is on Thursday May 2 from 2pm-3.30pm at the Australian National Maritime Museum at Darling Harbour. This event is free but you also have to book asap in advance. Click HERE for details.And finally our Great Escape this week follows Jimmy to Saigon, Vietnam, where he was “doing the Graham Greene thing” and finishing his new novel.All that and more in the Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

It's interesting listening to the podcom Hyperbole Towers - the podcast comedy we recorded almost four years ago - to hear how much has changed.There's a reference in there to pets not being allowed - that's gone.  And the whole episode centres around a by-law permitting owners to meet online.  That's now part of the fabric of strata law. But some of the issues are timeless, not least how strata committees bring together hugely diverse people who under other circumstances might cross the street to avoid each other.Add in characters who work from home in their underwear, use “you’re breaking up” as their get-out-of-jail card and get involved in the usual committee power struggles, and you have a potent recipe for some serious fun.The Hyperbole Towers characters are:·         Charlie, the long-suffering chair;  ·         Alfie the manipulative and scheming building manager; ·         Brooke the hopeless secretary; ·         Steve, the committee treasurer who sees everything in terms of money; ·         Wendy a do-gooder who is also a nasty gossip and a racist; ·         Joe a class warrior retiree for whom nothing is Left-wing enough (until it affects his hip pocket);·         Damien a manic day trader for whom the committee is his only social contact·         Amber a "massage therapist" who says it as she sees itThere is also a cameo guest appearance by star of stage and screen Todd McKenney, adding some pizzazz to the proceedings.The Story centres around the Hyperbole Towers committee in online crisis meetings to discuss the potential conversion of their former meeting room turned commercial space into a day spa … or is it a massage parlour?Meanwhile, constant thumping sounds,  are driving everyone mad, especially since building manager Alfie seems very reluctant to do anything about it.In its style and format, this is like a classic radio sitcom with some very modern themes.  But it’s a work of fiction and any similarity to anyone living or deceased is purely coincidental.I you enjoyed it, please share it with your friends and fellow strata dwellers and professionals through this link, and encourage them to do the same.Credits: Hyperbole Towers featured Tsu Shan Chambers,  Valentino Arico, Amelia Conway, Eveline Schubert, Michelle Rouady, Robin Queree, Matias Klaver and David MacPhail. It was narrated and directed by Warren Coleman.The podcom was written and produced by Jimmy Thomson and Warren Coleman. Audio editing and effects were by Sydney Sound Brewery under the watchful ear of John Hresc. Phoebe Armstrong was production assistant.Hyperbole Towers is a Flat Chat Production, copyright (2024) Words Worth Pty Ltd. It could not have been made without the financial assistance of City of Sydney Council.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

As you’d expect, a lot of this week’s podcast is taken up with the resignation of the SCA-NSW President and Netstrata boss Stephen Brell, as well as the ABC News story and its follow-up that exposed his company’s business practices..We’re taking the stance that Netstrata is not the only strata management company engaging in dubious (though not illegal) practices and allegedly concealing what were effectively strata insurance commissions is not the only breach of trust between many strata management companies and their customers – strata owners.In short (and at greater length in an accompanying article – coming soon) we highlight all the areas in which the strata management culture in NSW is failing both strata owners and the strata managers who simply want to make an honest buck.But first off, and at no cost to its members, SCA-NSW needs to disband its owners’ section and stop saying they represent owners. That’s like banks saying they represent account holders, car sales people saying they represent motorists or Uber drivers saying they represent Friday night drunks.And listeners might want to click on one of the links to the ABC stories (above) and scroll down to the section calling for your stories about strata managers.Also in the Wrap this week we discuss the new Pattern Book about to be released for comment by the NSW state architect, in an effort to show that apartment blocks don’t have to be huge and ugly.And our Great Escape takes us to India with a couple of Masterchef judges. That’s all on the menu for this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

The Flat Chat Wrap comes to you from a whole other country – or at least half of it does – with Jimmy in Saigon trying to finish his fourth novel (writing, not reading).While there he has discovered that there are very similar problems with overseas investors as we have here in Australia.Continuing the travel theme, Jimmy and Sue discuss the proposed changes to Airbnb laws intended to correct the “light touch” legislation currently in place.And we can’t mention travel without referring to Mild Rover which this week has pictures to back up Jimmy’s jaunt with Bafta-winning writer Kieran Prendiville, as well as a liverish look at the best and worst in-flight food services.And finally there’s a touching story by Sue about how an artistic tribute to her late Mum became part of the healing process.That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

There are myriad reasons why apartment rents are getting closer to and even, in a couple of areas, have overtaken the rents demanded for houses.Is it because the immigration tap has been turned back on for people from countries where they aren't horrified by the prospect of living in apartments/Is it because more, especially younger Aussies (wherever they originated) are seeing the benefits or apartment living outweighing the drawbacks.Or is it just that landlords have decided its time to stop discounting units just because of a fear of flatophobia?Also we take a look at the perils and potential benefits of asking for the compulsory appointments of strata managers and ask if there's any chance that NSW Fair Trading and the Attorney-General's office (which looks after the Tribunal) could start talking to each other about strata.Honestly, guys and gals, we can set it up for you.  We'll even buy the tea and bikkies.And finally, Jimmy and Sue recall the journey from Hell that almost ended their marriage before it had even started. That's all in the Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast we look at a report that building commissioner David Chandler has issued a stop-work order at a Wollongong construction site after structural defects were discovered in a 149-unit apartment block.According to a story in on the ABC news site, Mr Chandler said the prohibition order followed the detection of a number of issues in the Crownview building in the last few years with $37m already spent on remediation but new problems with critical cable tensioning were discovered during remediation work.As a result, he announced that he was pushing to have regional offices across the state because standards are so lax outside of Sydney – and we have a take on that too.We glance in the direction of government moves to nudge baby strata managers to get themselves qualified and gain expertise in a bit more than gouging Schedule B fees from unsuspecting apartment owners.And we look at news that already has the trendoids of Sydney’s inner-west suburbs in a tizz; the NSW government wants councils in these areas close to the city centre to stop blocking low-to-medium rise apartment blocks.Add that to the Greens’ demand that the Federal Government should build 360,000 homes to be available for low-cost rents and purchases and all those former workers cottages in streets with no parking will be swallowed up … or probably not.We look at what you really want in the shops in your block and a slight change of direction for Great Escapes.That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

In this week’s pod we look at “placemaking” which seems to be designing communities just to make them nicer places to live.By nicer, of course, we mean places that don’t stress you out in the walk to and from the station every day. More trees and open spaces are a start, but then open spaces are exactly where developers want to put buildings. And trees generally get in the way of that.We look at the NSW government’s plans to bring more high and medium rises to where there are shops (rather than the other way round).  And we ask what shops we would like in our block - by way of introducing this week’s poll which asks readers what they would like to see in their building.All that and more in the pod, this week.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

We’ve lifted a post from the Flat Chat Forum this week to illustrate two issues – one basic common sense, the other highly contentious.The post explains how a strata manager managed to legitimately charge $17,000 for sending out five emails.  Obviously, our advice would be to read the small print in your strata management contract with a focus on what the worst-case scenario might be.The other is the issue of whether the strata committee should have every owner’s email address – something way too many strata managers are not prepared to allow, regardless of what the law says.And this is a case in point. Had the strata committee sent these five emails out themselves, it would have cost them nothing apart from the time it took to click on “forward”, “group” and “send.”But you have to have the email addresses first.  You can read the detail on how five emails cost $17,000 HERE.Also in the pod, we look at the measure spreading across Australia to curb Airbnb and other short-term holiday lets to get homes back into the residential rental market.We examine, the improved but still “least-worst” deal that will probably be accepted by enough Mascot Towers owners to make it happen.And there’s a terrific 70 per cent off deal for a posh hotel near marvellous Maloolaba.That’s all in this week’s packed podcast.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

This week on the podcast we are talking about YOU.  At least, we are talking about your pet hates, as defined by our highly unscientific and totally skewed poll on who irritates you most in your strata scheme.The poll is on the Flat Chat home page and you can see the results when you vote. Sneaky way to get clicks?  Not really.  We simply don’t want to influence your choices.Also we have a look at what’s happening – or not happening – at the Balmain Leagues Club site where plans for a new block have been put on hold again (but, it seems, for a good reason).And we check out a report that renters could have saved thousands of dollars – or even have been able to find somewhere to live – if a critical planning restriction had been eased just a little.Finally, there’s our Lock Up & Leave – a designer cabin in the bush that’s just far enough away from civilisation. Race you there!____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

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 through the roof in Brisbane. The boom is being stimulated by preparations for the 2032 Olympics and an influx of new residents.Of course, what’s good news for investors is generally bad news for tenants and not only are they facing rising rents and shortages of available properties in the Sunshine state, they’d think twice before escaping to Victoria.There rents are rising but properties are falling, as in falling down.  An “undercover” inspection of properties offered for rent in Victoria  by the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC) and Tenants Victoria revealed one-third of them failed to meet some of the basic living or safety standards.And if you want to get away from all the doom and gloom, our Lock Up & Leave this week is a half-price, food and drink included, no-kids stay in a fancy hotel in Sorrento – the one in Italy, not the one in the Mornington Peninsula.All that for $2k – less than a long weekend in a party flat in Docklands.  It’s all in the Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

This week we take a deep dive into the next swathe of proposed NSW strata reforms which will include attempts to cut through the baloney and BS and make it easier for owners to overturn unfair contracts.What does that mean, exactly.  Well, when you realise that the maintenance fee for your stormwater drains actually includes the cost of installing them – which should have been borne by the developer – then that would be unfair.Or when your strata management contract has a clause that says you and not they will be liable for bad decisions they make on your behalf, that seems kind of unfair too.By the way, the final proposals will be posted for consideration and comment in April, so keep your keyboards poised for that.  There’s a lot more about this and other proposals in the pod.Also this week we wrap up our trials and tribulations over our legal right to hold the strata roll and emails, and a very big strata firm’s country branch’s efforts to keep them from us.Finally we have a very spicy Lock Up and Leave tour of the sub-continent. That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap. ____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

When newspaper reports presented the story about the defects in the Lachlan's Line apartment block in Macquarie Park, as if it was another Mascot Towers, Building Commissioner scolded journalists, assuring everyone that there was no need to panic.There would be no evacuations, he said, but admitted his department might need to consider the language it uses when alerting the public to problems in apartment blocks.Meanwhile a fire that gutted a unit in Bondi has alarm bells ringing over eBike batteries.  Should we panic over this? Or is just the combination of flats shared by delivery riders that need closer scrutiny.  A webinar hosted by the OCN in a couple of weeks promises to get to the bottom of it (and provide a model by-law for members). And finally, our Lock Up and Leave this week features the foodie tour with celebrity chefs that you have without the celebrity chefs ... or the eye-watering price tag.  That's all in the Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

After three pods in a row about Mascot Towers, we decided you (and we) needed a break so we are heading off to the seaside – figuratively, not literally – to see how property prices are doing on the North and South coasts of NSW.One report has said that prices in some coastal areas have bounced back more than those in the city, while others have said there are bargains to be had outside (but not too far) the city limits.So what’s going on?  We know office workers are being encouraged to go back to their offices and hybrid working hours are becoming popular.Maybe all that means that Seachange properties that are within commutable distance are holding the line while weekenders – properties that are outside, say two hours from town – are going back to being what they were intended for and dropping in price accordingly.After that, we can’t avoid Mascot Towers completely and we’ll be looking at who the winners (if any) and losers are as they hurtle towards the owners vote to accept or reject the David Chandler-wrangled offer early next month.That’s all in the Flat Chat wrap____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

We’re back and this is an absolute blockbuster, which, considering the topic, is an oddly ironic term.Last week Sue had an exclusive interview with NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler about the benighted Mascot Towers – the building that started crumbling about five years ago and whose evacuated former residents have been living in rental accommodations since.Did I say five years? Turns out the towers had defects long before that.  So how did David Chandler wrangle a possible (read probable) resolution between resident-owners who just want out, commercial lot owners and residents who want to stay, investors, banks and strata lenders?  You could read our very own Sue Williams’ exclusive report in the Sydney Morning Herald … or Jimmy’s column in the Australian Financial Review, but first listen to this merely fascinating podcast where we hear David Chandler himself, make sense of it all.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

We have an absolute rock star podcast guest this week, in NSW Building Commission Policy Director Angus Abadee.Angus gave us a good 20 minutes of his valuable time to explain what the recent expansion of the building commission means, as well as the significance of the new laws passed recently.The topics touched on included how they identify and approach developers they think might be cutting corners and building defects into their blocks – with a 90 per cent hit rate in that regard.How they are helping low-rise developers who want to move up in the world, literally, by building medium-rise developments but lack the skills and experience to make the transition efficiently and effectively.He spoke about how they and their counterparts in other states confer on key issues, and he confirmed that there are fewer reports of apartment building defects in Victoria simply because they are a couple of years behind NSW in identifying the problems – not because the problems don’t exist.And he addresses the next challenge for the Building Commission – dealing with defects in older buildings that are outside their warranty periods.We should note that this podcast came with its own construction problems. It was recorded using a hand-held device next to a computer speaker because Zoom had decided to remove or hide its “record” button.  It was edited on a laptop on our flight to Fiji then compiled into this post and uploaded to the internet from inside our holiday “bure” on Malolo Island.All of which is to explain the less-than-perfect audio as well as to hope you think it was worth the effort when you hear it. ____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Don’t know if Building Commissioner David Chandler has a hotline to Santa but with the  Building Commission being boosted from 40 to 400 inspectors, you’d have to think his Christmas wishes have come true.Then there’s the government plan to compel developers to include affordable and social housing in their schemes if they want to get approval – no trade-offs or sneaky deals for added floors. And there are the first hints of the proposals to open up land around rail hubs – which would be accidentally posted online, just as we were recording the pod.We talk about the valid concerns over e-bike and e-scooter batteries, and some solutions, but point out that apartment blocks are far from being the most at risk.We thank the people who contributed to our being the most successful fundraising team in the MedEarth Trails For Change walk (but it’s not too late to contribute HERE).And we discover that this week’s Lock Up and Leave is not only close to home but close to Sue’s heart as one of her favourite holiday resort hotels in the whole world.  That’s all in this weeks’ Flat Chat Wrap.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

It’s a packed Wrap this week with a lot happening in and around strata. Global credit rating and data analysis agency Equifax – the people who measure how many of David Chandler’s gold stars developers should get – have conducted a survey into how confident apartment buyers are in the properties they plan to purchase.The answer is “not very” … unless they have a few of those highly sought-after gold stars to add some shine to their sales spin.The Mascot Towers saga has taken another twist with owners refused permission to terminate the strata scheme with a view to walking away from their mounting debts.  What now for this benighted block and its emotionally and financially broken owners?And talking of defective buildings, what does the supercharging of NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler’s powers in legislation that’s about to become law actually mean.And finally we celebrate a travel writing award for Sue and join her on our Lock Up and Leave “Pick of the Trips”, by train across India – recalling a journey she took with her late Mum.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap we talk about the proposal to introduce architectural pattern books in NSW.Will they mean even more cookie-cutter apartment blocks or will  it simply result in the buildings that we need in a hurry not looking like they were designed in a primary school handicrafts project?Then we look at what has happened at an apartment block that was only a few years ago named as the best residential building in the world.Falling planter boxes and rising concern about flammable cladding have blotted the Central Park tower’s copybook.  Now the truly iconic building in Broadway, Sydney, has to work through these issues with multiple strata committees each having their say.  Wish them luck.Next we pick up on perennial parking problems and some innovative (and only slightly illegal) methods for dealing with rogue parkers (aka parking thieves).Parking illegally in a multi-storey car park is wrong on so many levels. (Joke Stolen from Tim Vine).And finally, our Lock Up and Leave Pick of the Trips takes us on a small group tour to the Land of the Rising Sun. ____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

Some big, big issues have shuffled shamelessly into the glare of the podcast spotlight his week.Firstly we talk about the buying and selling of management rights and how that has become a huge, $8billion dollar business nationally.Should we be worried that this is starting to creep into NSW and Victoria from Queensland, where the legalised rorting of apartment owners through pre-selling the rights to run their buildings all began?What does it mean for owners in new buildings in the other states who will doubtless be told that selling 25-year contracts to commercial entities is “standard practice”?And what are the implications for Queensland owners’ desperate attempts to get its pro-developer state government to put a cork in the bottle even if the genie can’t be persuaded to get back into it?The other big issue is the appalling state of rental affordability in Sydney, especially, which includes a dire prediction from Jimmy that sounds suspiciously like a disruptive call to action.Finally, we have big news about the podcast itself, plus our Lock up and Leave Pick of the Trips, and a tribute to our most dedicated listener of all.____________________________________________________Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.Find us on Facebook and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.Send comments and questions to mail@flatchat.com.au.Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai; Transcription tidied up and sensified by Raphie.Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.