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Strata

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Miguel Frohlich wants to charge his electric car at home, but can’t.

Miguel bought a car. Then there was a $2000 cost to charge it

He was thrilled to have a car that would be so much cheaper to run – but then he drove straight into a metaphorical wall.

  • Sue Williams

Latest

Nature’s dryer.

In our block of flats, the majority was hung out to dry

A fraction shy of 75 per cent of the vote supported our right to put a clothes-drying rack on our balconies. That wasn’t enough. Strata law needs to change.

  • Vaidehi Shah
Vaidehi Shah has a drying rack set up in their living room because the strata bylaws prohibit it from going on the balcony.

Apartment dwellers push for the right to air their clean laundry

Millions of Australians live in apartments, but many new developments ban washing from being hung outdoors.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Rob Chan at his North Sydney apartment building.

A place in the sun: How to get solar to 2.5m apartment dwellers

Australia has the highest uptake of rooftop solar in the world, but the growing number of apartment dwellers has been left behind. This is how to turn the tables.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons and Bianca Hall
Strata residents are being advised to cross-check maintenance and repair quotes to ensure they’re getting value for money.

Strata residents warned of inflated invoices for trades work

The Australian Consumers Insurance Lobby has warned maintenance quotes are being inflated by up to 120 per cent for people in strata units amid limited oversight by committees.

  • Amber Schultz
SMH: St Ives apartment owners Kristyn Haywood and Osman Topatan support laws improving transparency by strata agents. They allege their strata manager incorrectly recorded votes for a caretaker contract.

Strata law reform on the cards as NSW Fair Trading swamped with complaints

Reforms of the state’s strata laws are set to address poor behaviour by managing agents as sector advocates call for the commissioner to have greater powers.

  • Amber Schultz
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Like the average Sydney homeowner, early two thirds of my income will go toward servicing my new home loan.

I spent more time choosing groceries than buying my first home

I’ve spent longer debating which frozen dumplings to buy at the supermarket than committing to a mortgage that ends two years before I’m eligible for the pension.

  • Amber Schultz
Australia’s war on babies is worse than we first thought.

It’s been a bad week to be a baby

You think being booted from a comedy show is unfair? Strata is stopping my kid from crawling on communal grass.

  • Thomas Mitchell
Sydneysider Karen Go was saved from bankruptcy over strata fees by her sister Wendy Lee. The pair are using pseudonyms.

‘Unjust and unfair’: How Karen nearly lost everything to strata debt

One in eight forced bankruptcy filings in NSW last year were applications by owners’ corporations to make individual owners bankrupt.

  • Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Jan Newland owns an apartment in an ageing building with harbour views.

Jan’s building has concrete cancer and harbour views. Developers are trying to persuade her to sell

Residents in crumbling apartment blocks on the north shore are being targeted with warnings of disaster unless they sell - so the buildings can be redeveloped.

  • Sue Williams

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/strata-hqk