Having braved the wilds of Scotland and the woes of Covid, we are back with a brand new Flat Chat Wrap podcast, with our usual mixture of optimism and, it must be said, the occasional bout of weary skepticism.







The optimism stems from the plans for a new high-end apartment block that will bring owners together with key worker in affordable rentals, plus some social housing.







And the remarkable thing about this is that the purchasers of apartments costing up to $2.4m actually like the ides of having a broad democratic spread among their neighbours.











The skepticism comes from wondering what the government is going to do about rental affordability and availability when they are so desperately keen not to do anything about holiday rentals having taken over what should be residential homes.  







And then we have the woman in a small apartment block whose racist neighbour is just making up the rules as he goes – aided and abetted by absentee owners and a supine strata manager – including banning her from common property.  That’s all in this week’s refreshed and renewed podcast.











TRANSCRIPT IN FULL







Jimmy  00:00







We're back, after a couple of weeks' break while I was away, and while we were doing the 'Lawyer in the Hot Seat' thing.







Sue  00:07







And then when you came back, you brought a special souvenir for me; two souvenirs. One was a really nice pair of pyjamas, so thank you for that, and the other one was a dose of Scottish COVID!







Jimmy  00:17







Yes, it's a very special Scottish COVID. Deep-fried COVID.







Sue  00:23







So my pleasure at seeing you back was tempered somewhat, by both of us then falling ill.







Jimmy  00:28







Yes. At one point earlier this year in Scotland, one person in 11 was infected with COVID. If I had known that, I would never have gone over there! And we are in a very unusual position for us, this week.







Sue  00:45







What's that?







Jimmy  00:45







You've just finished writing a book?







Sue  00:48







Yes.







Jimmy  00:48







Which means for the first time that I can remember, you are not in the middle of writing a book, because they've all overlapped. You know, you had 'Elizabeth & Elizabeth,' and then you had 'Daughter of the River Country,' and then you had 'Mary Mary.' Oh sorry, the Fiona Wood biography, which is coming out...







Sue  01:07







In September, I think, yes. It's weird, isn't it? I mean, it's so strange, because all the time you're on a mad deadline and you're working and you're thinking "oh my god, I wish I didn't have these books to write.' You think it's going to be so wonderful when you don't have them and and as soon as you don't have them, I start getting really fidgety and thinking "oh, my god, what am I going to do with my life?"







Jimmy  01:08







You'll think of something.







Sue  01:31







Yes. I wrote the words 'the end' today, which is my favourite part of writing a book, but I still need to go through the book and just trim it up and kind of refine it a little bit, I think.







Jimmy  01:43







The essence of good writing is rewriting.







Sue  01:45







Yes,