FLAT CHAT WRAP
All about living in apartments (condos), from dealing with your committee to getting on with neighbours and – a dose of healthy skepticism about dubious developers. Please subscribe by clicking on one of the icons below, to take you to your favourite podcaster.
Episodes
402 episodes
Is this the end of balcony laundry bans?
Last week Sue dropped a bomb into a discussion about new strata laws in NSW, one of which will invalidate by-laws that block sustainability changes because they would alter the look of the building.Does this mean the end of by-laws that ...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 22
•
24:05
New strata laws tested - the best and the rest
If you've been hiding under your bed - and who isn't tempted these days? - you may not have heard that NSW is about to see a second tranche of strata law reforms become a reality on July 1.What are the new laws and what do they mean? We ...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 21
•
24:46
It's real! Building faster, cheaper, better apartments
Imagine if you could build apartments in half the time at 15 per cent less cost and a guarantee of no waterproofing, fire safety or structural defects.‘Tell ’im he must be dreamin’,” say strata’s Darryl Kerrigans. Apartment blocks ...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 20
•
23:59
On ABC radio Afternoons with James Valentine
As many of you may already know, every second Tuesday, JimmyT goes on ABC Radio with James Valentine on his Afternoon show to chat about apartments. Last week, Jimmy and James took calls from listeners about what you can and can't p...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 19
•
25:23
Hot seat part 2 - Vexatious litigants and embedded networks
In this second part of Lawyer in the Hot Seat, recorded last week, strata legal eagle David Bannerman fields questions from Flat Chat's Jimmy Thomson about a range of issues, starting with what is vexatious litigant and how do you deal with the...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 18
•
27:31
Lawyer in the Hot Seat 2025 - Part 1
In what has become an annual event here on Flat Chat, this week we were invited on to a webinar run by leading strata lawyer (and Flat Chat sponsor) David Bannerman for the Q&A session that we call Lawyer in the Hot Seat.In it we dis...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 17
•
34:42
Training wheels and strata manager myths
The week’s podcast covers a wide array of topics, from your thoughts on strata committee training, and the ups and downs of the property market to common myths about strata managers. And we’ll throw in a reference to photography as well.<...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 16
•
26:45
Why green flats are good buys
The Wrap is back with a look at sustainable apartments and the reality of spending a bit more to make a unit cheaper to live in.The latest message is that even if the average ‘green’ unit costs $11k more, it will save you heaps of money…...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 15
•
26:04
All the strata stats that matter
Did you know that getting on for 4.5 million Australians live in strata? And who do you think comprises the single largest demographic group, from singles and couples through to one-parent families?Can you even take a wild guess at the t...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 14
•
20:51
Defects, solar snub and commissions
There's a lot going on in the strata sphere this week, starting with the Sydney Morning Herald's
•
Season 8
•
Episode 13
•
23:45
Election fever, defects call and rents on the rise
We’d love to ignore the election but we can’t, so this week we look at what our nation’s political parties are offering apartment buyers and renters as we hurtle towards polling day.Everybody agrees we need more housing – and that means ...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 12
•
26:12
Tenants' pets unleashed and flat-finding for a friend
We are getting into two of the topics that cause most angst in apartment living, this week: pets and buying property.Firstly, we take a spin around the question of landlords in NSW no longer being able to ban renters’ pets for no good re...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 11
•
22:32
Strata managers 'not in disarray' says prez
Last week we said that Strata Community Association NSW - the states' strata managers' professional body - was in disarray. Objecting to that negative characterisation, NSW President Robert Anderson agreed to come on to the podcast ...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 10
•
30:24
Five years on, strata pets are here to stay
This week we look back at what has been described by some lawyers as one of the most significant legal decisions of the 21st Century – right up there with Donald Trump’s court losses.We are talking about the “Jo Cooper” decision five yea...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 9
•
25:04
Netstrata: The facts and the frictions
The long-awaited report into what has become known as the Netstrata Scandal came out last week – too late for the podcast – so we bring it to you in all its glory this week.Fair Trading NSW have, unusually for them, hopped in with a fair...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 8
•
24:29
Fast track flats and Airbnb tax
This week’s podcast looks at the renewed concern about the effect of short-term holiday lets on affordable housing, following City of Sydney’s request to the state government
•
Season 8
•
Episode 7
•
23:16
New laws put strata cops on the beat
The podcast this week is almost entirely taken up with the new laws that passed the other day in the NSW parliament. We won’t see most of them kick in until later in the year, but the effects could be immediate.Dodgy contract...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 6
•
22:51
Secretive strata managers face $110k fines
In this week’s podcast we wonder whether the announcement of fines for strata managers who don’t reveal the various deals and relationships they have with developers and service providers signals a sea change in how NSW Fair Trading regards str...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 5
•
22:26
Contract killers - the strata law that's simply ignored
In this week’s podcast we ask why it is that, while the so-called Arrow decision has established that pre-sale strata contracts are invalid, some developers can get away with signing them.As raised by our friend
•
Season 8
•
Episode 4
•
21:55
Strata pantomime villain takes centre stage
It seems strata may have a new pantomime villain (like we need one). This week we look at multi-millionaire developer of fancy pants apartment blocks Tim Gurner.He once shocked an economic conference by saying the country needs 40-...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 3
•
24:57
Economic hogwash, strata dog wash
With half of Australia still in holiday or hangover mode, and half of Sydney stuck on a railway platform somewhere, this is a short and (we hope) sweet Flat Chat Wrap podcast this week.First, we look at a new trend in affordable and comf...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 2
•
17:31
Fast-track for flats puts Nimbys on notice
We are back in the saddle for the new year with the news that the NSW government has come up with a new way of tackling the bureaucracy and red tape that’s holding back housing construction – by adding what looks like another level of bureaucra...
•
Season 8
•
Episode 1
•
16:24
Plusses and perils of strata in 2025
Looking forward to 2025 involves a certain amount of looking back. So we wonder this week what will happen, if anything, as a result of the long-delayed outcomes of investigations into Netstrata in particular or strata management in general.&nb...
•
Season 7
•
Episode 50
•
24:09
Strata's naughty and nice in 2024
From the scandals around Netstrata - and the harsh scrutiny all strata managers have faced as a consequence - to the departure of Building Commissioner David Chandler, 2024 was a huge year in strata.We look at those events as well as the ro...
•
Season 7
•
Episode 49
•
24:32
Sins of commission - why Minns has quit
This week we say farewell to former Strata Commissioner John Minns who has decided to quit, despite a months-long inquiry into allegations of conflict of interest finding nothing untoward.Jimmy had a long chat with him (off air) which he...
•
Season 7
•
Episode 48
•
26:43