Recent News

Bye-bye to bylaws

10 April 2009: What happens when complaints get trampled underfoot. When is a bylaw not a bylaw? When the Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal decides it doesn't really matter, that's when. more >>

Push to clamp illegal parkers

27 February 2009: RESIDENTS in flats and other strata buildings are demanding the State Government reintroduce clamping and towing of illegally parked cars to stop protracted legal and sometimes physical disputes they say are turning apartment car parks into battle grounds. more >>

Rise of high-density living a new low for Sydney

14 January 2009: We are blessed with a sunny climate and enough space to enjoy a relaxed lifestyle that is the envy of many. But single-house communities are becoming a threatened species. Attractive suburbs with flowers and foliage are being overrun by concrete and bitumen. Bewildered long-time residents find themselves in the shadows of unit blocks. more

Developer locked out in strata stoush

8 January 2009: A WARNING has been sounded for developers manipulating strata management laws after a ruling in NSW's consumer disputes tribunal involving an exclusive waterfront suburb. Apartment owners in the $1.65 billion, 52-hectare Breakfast Point estate have wrested control of their strata committee from influential developer Rose Group, which designed and built the estate on the foreshores of Parramatta River. more

Get ready: high-rise suburbs coming

6 January 2009: SYDNEY will be reinvented as a high-density metropolis serviced by mass-transit subways under a transport blueprint being developed by senior state and federal government bureaucrats. more

Backyard bliss may soon be a memory

6 January 2009: THERE are two Sydneys of the future. In one we build on empty paddocks 45 kilometres from the CBD, where workers wake before dawn to spend hours in traffic driving to work. In the other we abandon the McMansions of Kellyville - and our cars - in favour of high-rise apartment living and subway transport. more

Have a jolly good time

10 December 2008: With many of us intending to spend less at Christmas this year, it seems we can expect more home-grown parties.

Institute of Strata Management president David Ferguson has advised unit dwellers to consider their neighbours when planning Christmas celebrations. more >>

WANTED: Well-managed apartments

1 December 2008: The sale of apartments can be hampered by a minefield of legal issues, maintenance problems and management mishaps. In fact, a brand new apartment building can pose as many problems as a well established one. Changing the way apartment buildings are managed is a complex mission ... more >>

Court with appeal?

22 November 2008: There are pros and cons in a new legal option. When it comes to irreconcilable differences, strata battles can make the irresistible force meeting the immovable object look like an episode of Dancing With The Stars. more >>

Shantytown or tidy town? Sydney's clothes line dilemma

14 November 2008: Unit and townhouse residents in NSW will soon no longer face $5500 fines and up to a year in prison for doing the environmentally responsible thing – hanging out their washing to dry on balconies. more