OCN Policy Director Karen Stiles said the impacts of homeowners footing the bill of increased costs had “been as bad as suicide, marriage breakups (and) ill health”. Read the article here or https://ocn.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/House-of-pain-Construction-firms-collapse-at-record-rate.pdf
Multiple factors account for a successful move, says Janette Corcoran, the Victorian director of the peak apartment-owners body, the Owners Corporation Network, and chair of her 42-level tower in Docklands, Victoria Point, which has more than 1000 residents, as well as serviced apartments, offices and retail outlets. “Whether downsizing works or not depends on the push and pull factors,” she says. “One family were feeling unsafe in their house in one [...]
OCN’s joint managing director, David Glover, said the move to all-electric homes was “inevitable” for health, environmental and economic reasons, so the City of Sydney’s restriction on gas in new homes was “well thought through and essential”. The City of Sydney has mandated that new residential developments will have to use electric cooktops, ovens and space heating from January 1, 2026, and be entirely gas free from the following year. Read [...]
ACT strata bodies unite behind commissioner but warn funding falls short The Strata Community Association (SCA) and the Owners Corporation Network (OCN) have presented a united front in calling for a properly resourced strata commissioner to support Canberra’s growing population of strata-titled property owners. Read the article here
OCN''s Queensland Director, Chris Irons explained the Tribunal's decision over a second pesky fridge on an owner's balcony Listen to the interview here
OCN''s Victorian Director, Dr Janette Corcoran calls for the City of Melbourne to consider the realities faced by the thousands of existing strata buildings that are already home for the majority of the city’s residents. If you live in a high-rise, now is the time to speak up. The more the council hears that residential strata – and how this operates – matter, the more likely we are to see real [...]
OCN's David Glover speaks to Maggie Raworth about the growing trend of developers installing embedded networks in new apartment buildings. They are routinely left with lengthy, expensive contracts that are difficult to negotiate or terminate. Worse, the apartment owners may not even own the infrastructure or benefit from energy produced. But they're required to maintain and repair it. https://youtu.be/UwKnlxEttTY
Angry apartment owners say they’re being charged for electricity generated by solar panels on their own roof thanks to a confidential agreement signed between their developer and the energy provider. When they moved into the new Dwell building in Sutherland, in Sydney’s south, they assumed the solar would help with their common property electricity bills. Instead, they’ve just been presented with a surprise bill for $28,717.06 for the past 12 months, [...]
The recent HighLife Victoria Expo featured a range of activities, including webinars, stalls, and forums – along with a Listening Post. Operated by the Owners’ Corporation Network (OCN) and Strata Community Association (SCA) Victoria, this initiative gathered insights from expo attendees – owners, tenants and committee members – regarding their most pressing issues and desires for change within the residential strata sector. Read article:> https://www.docklandsnews.com.au/highlife-expo-listening-to-the-voices-of-residential-strata/
17 JANUARY 2024 People who bought into the Lachlan’s Line apartment complex in Sydney’s North were promised a “prestigious new community”. Now they’ve discovered the basement floors in all four blocks are at risk of collapse. Karen Stiles, executive director of the advocacy group Owners Corporation Network welcomed the order which follows increased scrutiny of apartment developments. The Macquarie Park apartment’s car parks on the basement level are at risk of [...]
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