OCN Opinion Piece – Short-Term Letting – NSW Government backs Airbnb in Final Policy
April 12 2021 Late Friday 9 April 2021 the NSW Government quietly “announced” its stripped-down and “final” short-term letting policy. In the middle of a housing crisis, the Government has legalised “Airbnb” facilitating the loss of thousands of apartments and houses across NSW. In a bizarre twist, it used an [...]
Further Extension of Strata and Community Lands COVID-19 Regulations
April 12 2021 OCN does not support the extension of this emergency arrangement for alternative electronic methods for meeting or voting. OCN is recommending that the Act should not be amended to remove the requirement that an owners corporation must make a conscious decision to use alternative electronic methods. The [...]
OCN Position Statement on COVID-19 Pandemic Issues – The Gaps in Hotel Quarantine
February 2021 To date, the NSW Government has not acknowledged the risk of transmission of COVID-19 to residents in apartment buildings. The issues related to apartment buildings have gone under the radar as health authorities have had to focus on higher risk locations such as nursing homes, and on border [...]
COVID-19, HQP & Private Security Guard Risks To Apartment Residents
FEBRUARY 2021 OCN wrote to the NSW Health Minister, outlining concerns that security guards working at quarantine hotels were also working on high-rise apartment buildings, mixing with residents. > Download letter (pdf)
A Better Deal for Strata – Consumer Protection – Building Defects update
SEPTEMBER 2020 Building defects remain a major problem for owners of new strata dwellings and also pose high levels of risk for those purchasing apartments off the plan. This OCN policy update summarises the main regulatory changes being either proposed or enacted in NSW to address the systemic causes of [...]
Labor Update on Design & Building Practitioners Bill Progress
07 MAY 2020 Legislation drafted by the NSW Government to improve the accountability of building industry practitioners and the quality and compliance of construction, particularly multi-residential buildings, is currently stalled. The NSW Labor Opposition is lobbying the government to finally pass its Design and Building Practitioners Bill 2019, which will [...]
Minister for Planning & Public Spaces – COVID-19 & Construction Work Days
29 APRIL 2020 OCN wrote to NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Rob Stokes, requesting an urgent amendment to the EPA (COVID-19 Development-Construction Work Days) Order 2020 to protect the physical and mental health of strata residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The order allowed building work to be carried [...]
Minister for Better Regulation & Innovation – Urgent Building Reforms Required
29 APRIL 2020 OCN wrote to the NSW Minister for Better Regulation, Kevin Anderson, requesting urgent action to pass two key pieces of legislation drafted by the government – the Design and Building Practitioners Bill 2019 and the Residential Apartment Buildings (Compliance and Enforcement Powers) Bill 2020. The situation has [...]
OCN Fact Sheet – Short Term Letting – Updated April 2020
21 APRIL 2020 This OCN fact sheet outlines proposed changes to the NSW regulatory framework announced in June 2018 and the further changes released in August 2019. The new strata by-law power commenced on 10 April 2020. It is for information only. It does not constitute legal advice. > OCN [...]
COVID-19 Economic Impacts & Strata Levy Defaults
06 APRIL 2020 The strata sector is facing a perfect storm of financial, governance and operational issues due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Legislation enacted by the NSW state government failed to address the needs of the sector, and as result, OCN developed a comprehensive set of recommendations based on input [...]
NSW Minister for Better Regulation & Innovation – COVID-19 Emergency & Residential Strata Communities
06 APRIL 2020 The COVID-19 pandemic poses unique threats to the health, wellbeing and financial stability of Strata communities. However, the NSW Government emergency legislation did not make provision for the approximately 1.2 million people living in strata. OCN wrote to the NSW Minister for Better Regulation, Kevin Anderson, urging [...]
NSW Minister for Health – COVID-19 Concerns
2 APRIL 2020 Short-term letting of apartments within strata schemes during the COVID-19 pandemic poses a major risk to the health and safety of owners and established resident tenants. OCN wrote to NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard requesting urgent action to modify the government’s Public Health Orders to address this [...]
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