FLAT CHAT WRAP

This week’s podcast is inspired by a question on our Forum asking what to do about two office-bearers who have taken bricks out of common property walls so as to install integrated bookshelves … with the predictable effect that has on noise insulation, not to mention fire safety. You can read the original post and responses here. All of which leads to a discussion about the dumb (and inconsiderate) things people do when they haven’t got the message that they don’t own the four walls around their flat – just whatever’s inside them.Strata AnswersMoving on, we talk to a couple of people who have made it their business to explain the facts of strata life to owners and tenants, especially those tied up in dysfunctional strata committees, or waging trench warfare against them.Our loyal sponsors StrataAnswers – Tonja Gibson and John Hutchison – explain what it’s like to walk into the no-man’s-land between warring factions in a strata dispute.They try to take the emotion out of the conflict by applying logic and considerable knowledge and experience.It’s all about education and communication, they say – and getting people to realise that doing nothing can costs more in the long run than paying to get things fixed.As Sue says, they are the missing link between strata managers, lawyers and committees.Unit price dropletsThen Sue talks about how apartment prices have fallen but not by as much as everyone feared.  The worst is yet to come (for sellers, at least) but Sue reports the experts predict it won’t be as bad as we think.Hey, Martha!And finally, we have our “Hey Marthas”  - oddities from the past week that may have nothing to do with strata but have caught our attention.Sue has been watching War of the Worlds, streaming on SBS and explains why it it makes her feel better about the coronavirus pandemic.  Have a look at this promo (but don’t if you’re already addicted to the series as it contains a few spoilers).https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FqABRhwWCEAnd with the TV drama in mind, she has spotted dancing robots at a Korean baseball game, some of which look like the nasty killing machines on WotW. Admittedly, some of them also look like people dressed up as robots. Maybe real fans have found a way of sneaking into the stadium in defiance of lockdown restrictions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHkVNLI9qFkScots scotch AirbnbJimmy takes partial credit for the impending crackdown on Airbnb planned for Scotland, where one in five properties on the Isle of Skye and one in six in the centre of Edinburgh have been given over to short-term holiday lets, despite chronic housing shortages.With some relief provided by the coronavirus hit to tourism in the UK, the Scottish Parliament is planning to crack down before it all goes crazy again next northern Summer.RIP Peter GreenAnd finally Jimmy pays tribute to Peter Green, one of the guitar heroes of his youth who passed away at the weekend.Green, who founded Fleetwood Mac, had his creative genius cut short by LSD 50 years ago at the age of only 23 (don’t do drugs, kids), but not before he’d left a musical legacy that still resonates today.Jimmy struggled to choose which one to sample – Albatross is the best known hit but not really representative. Man of the World is too sad (listen for yourself below). Green Manalishi? Oh Well? Need Your Love So Bad?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgJGcJ-EiXsAll terrific songs (check them out on Youtube) but if you want to know the song Jimmy chose, you’ll have to listen to the podcast. (Clue:  You’ll probably know a more recent version by another guitarist, who's better known these days).Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.If the link doesn’t take you straight there, just search for Flat Chat Wrap,

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Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

It’s another showbag of conflict, calm and coronavirus craziness on the Flat Chat Wrap podcast this week.First, inspired by a question from our Forum, we discuss what you can do when someone who shouldn’t even be at a strata committee meeting – his daughter is the lot owner – bullies the other members.Our suggested remedies range from using existing rules – non-members shouldn’t speak unless the committee votes to allow it -  to standing orders that empower the secretary to “name” disruptive  elements.As a last resort, you could consider employing security guards or even calling the police.Secret Garden secretsIn a more restful mode, we talk to gardening guru and landscaper extraordinaire Matt Cantwell about what you can and should do with plants on the balcony.Matt is a passionate proselytiser for the power of plant life, and he really makes you feel your life is lacking if you don’t have some greenery around you.We took the opportunity to find out how his philosophy fits with apartment living and here’s the gist of what he had to say, as a Q and A.What plants would you put on a small balcony?Sansevieria trifasciata ‘Mother in laws tongue’ or Aspidistra elatior ‘Cast iron plant’,both great for shade, low water use.Plants that can be easily trimmed to the pot proportions like Buxus microphyllajaponica ‘Japanese Box hedge or Crassula ovata ‘Jade’ both low water use as well.What plants would you put on a large terrace?If you can, pop a tree in a large pot.Olea europaea ‘Olive tree’.Plumeria acutifilia ‘Frangipani’Acer palmatum ‘Japanese Maple’Palms are also great too, Howea forsteriana ‘Kentia palm’Camaerops Humilis – ‘European fan palm’If you like plants but are really bad at looking after them, what should you choose for your balcony or inside your home?Anything drought tolerant would be goodEuphorbia ingens – ‘Candleabra tree’Echinocactus grusonii – ‘Golden barrel cactus’Agave ‘Blue glow’Crassula varieties like ‘ovata’, ‘bluebird’ or ‘max cook’,Raphiolepsis ‘Snow maiden’ or ‘Oriental Pearl’.If you have limited space and want to go for herbs and maybe even some vegetables rather than flowering plants, what are your best options?Rosemary, thyme, sage and oregano, basil, parsley, mint, lettuce, rocket and tomatoes.What are the best balcony plants for screening and privacy?Lilly pilly – These come in many varieties.Podocarpus – Maki or elatusRaphiolepsis indicaWhat about indoor plants for a small space?Aloe veraAnthurium andraeanumEchievera spSpathiphyllum or ‘Peace lillyPeperomiaPothosPass the CoronaAfter chatting to Matt about flower power, our discussion takes a slightly less fragrant tone when we look at the disgraceful antics of the 60 partygoers who were fined $1000 each by police after they took over a short-term let (which has a track record of driving its neighbours nuts) and blew the Covid restrictions away.FYI,  this party house wouldn’t even have been available if our politicians had taken a break from watering down our short-term rental code of conduct and got it out where it might actually save some lives in these times of covid crisis.But what can apartment residents do when the pollies keep dragging their feet and summer – when city apartments become party central – is just around the corner?  There’s all that and more in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.If the link doesn’t take you straight there, just search for Flat Chat Wrap, click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. And please give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

If you are up to your eyes in paint, tiles and taps – or even better, just looking through the brochures as you prepare the domestic make-over you can’t put off any longer – you could do worse than listen to this week’s podcast.We’ve Zoomed in on interior designer Stephanie Bungard to discover the easiest and most effective way to make your apartment look fresh and inviting.For instance, do you know what colours are popular these days because they are calming?And if you’re looking to freshen up the place for rent or sale – or just to make it a nicer space to live in – how you can supplement the paint job with new tapware in the kitchen and bathroom.Design questionsIn an enlightening and entertaining chat, Steff answers such questions as:What are the latest trends in apartment interior design?What’s the easiest way to make a small space look bigger?In a renovation, where should you spend more – kitchen or bathroom?Feature walls – in or out?Sliding doors on wardrobes are great space savers – but what if you don’t want giant mirrors in your bedroom?What are the biggest and/or most common mistakes apartment owners make regarding interiors?What are the trendy new colours for apartments?What are good alternatives to tiles in bathrooms (all that grout!)?Timber, tile or carpet on floors? Any tips for investors who will be renting out or selling their flats?Todd waltzes inBefore that, Sue and Jimmy talk about the case that came to light when Todd McKenney contacted us to say he wanted to help a pensioner who’s in danger of losing his dog.As this story explains, 81-year-old Colin Marshall firmly believed he was entitled to take his pet greyhound into his new home  in an apartment block, only for the owners corporation to change its by-laws after he had moved in.Is that a rule made retrospectively?  And if it is, does it hold water? Is there any difference between that and, say, a new rule banning barbecues on balconies when someone has bought one under the old by-laws?Obviously, the answer to the latter is “yes” as a pet is a member of the family as Bu is, in this case.  As Todd is the Ambassador of the Greyhoud Adoption program, he’s “waltzed in” to offer support and advice.Rents up and downThen we get into the ups and downs of the rental market which has some revealing twists and turns in terms of where rents have actually gone up while most others have gone downThe cover of Mary Trump's book from Politico online magazineAnd Sue’s “Hey Martha” looks at the new book by Donald Trump’s niece. With a Ph.D. in psychology, Mary Trump is far from your average disgruntled family member.The book’s subtitle, “How my family created the world’s most dangerous man,” gives you a hint of its general thrust. You can read more about it in this Politico feature.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.If the link doesn’t take you straight there, just search for Flat Chat Wrap, click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. And please give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast we encounter the best and worst in apartment living, from negative equity in off-the plan purchases, to multiple tenants causing parking chaos in a block that simply doesn’t know how to enforce their own by-laws.In between, as some positive relief, we chat to an architect who won four gongs at the recent NSW Architects award, including for a revolutionary high-end high-rises, as well as an equally ground-breaking boarding house.Off-the-plan painBut first the issue of people who paid a deposits on off-the-plan apartments a couple of years ago, and have watched property values shrink and in some cases their jobs disappear because of the pandemic, just as their new flat is ready for occupancy.This item was inspired by this interview with ABC NewsRadio’s Sandy Aloisi – and you can hear a snatch of it on the podcast – which was in turn inspired by this story in the AFR.As Jimmy and Sue discuss, it’s not just a matter of walking away from the 10 percent deposit, which may cost less than completing the sale of a now over-priced unit for which you can’t get a mortgage anyway.The developers can sue for the difference between your surrendered deposit and the reduced price of the apartment, as well as legal costs.  Any way you look at it, it’s a lose-lose situation for the apartment buyer.Moving on to happier thoughts, we chat to Philip Thalis the award-winning architect behind the spectacularly innovative Verve Building in Newcastle, NSW, pictured here at the head of last week’s podcast show notes.The Verve isn’t just a smart looking block, Philip has worked hard to make sure it contributes to the local environment and community.Boarding housePhilip also talks about the “new generation” boarding house he designed for five Muslim brothers who wanted a project to show off their concreting skills (seriously!).Boarding houses have a bad name in property development, not least, says Philip, because there are almost no quality controls over the finished projects, which can be cheap and very nasty.He’s hoping his project will not only inspire other developers to try a bit harder, but encourage the government to put some basic standards into the design and construction of accommodation that has previously had an terrible reputation.Parking madnessThen there’s a story straight off the Forum, where a strata scheme is suffering parking madness and they simply don’t know what to do … especially when they can’t even identify the tenants and sub-tenants in the offending unit.And finally our Hey Marthas  take us back to the architecture awards and the toilet block, pictured above, that has its designer flushed with success.That’s all in this week’s bumper edition of the Flat Chat Wrap.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.If the link doesn’t take you straight there, just search for Flat Chat Wrap, click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. And please give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast, in the run-up to the Australian architectural awards, we talk about some of the innovative apartment block designs that made it the short-list.For a start, there’s the Verve towers in Newcastle which offer more corner units because it’s two slim towers rather than one solid one. Judging by the above picture, it’s two slices rather than two fingers (as Jimmy suggests in the podcast), but the fact that it costs more to build is offset by the ability of the developer to charge more for each flat.Then there are “new age” boarding houses which, because they aren’t really apartments, can be as small as 24 sqm. And there are apartments with built-in designer furniture - which leads to a discussion about an embarrassing bed.Strata LoansThen we talk to Paul Morton, CEO of Lannock Strata Finance, one of our long-term sponsors whose company is one of the few sources of strata loans in the country.Usually when we do interviews we send our guests a list of likely questions (to get them thinking, avoid long pauses and reassure them that they aren’t going to be hijacked).Unusually, Paul answered his in print.  So, never been prone to looking gift horses in the mouth ... here are his rough notes and bullet points. We asked other questions – including if he has noticed strata schemes struggling to pay their bills due to shortfalls in levies.And he said a lot more than we’ve reproduced here.  So you’ll have to listen to get it all.Many apartment owners and committees are nervous about strata loans – why?Fear comes from lack of knowledge and understanding. Nothing is ever good or bad, it’s a matter of costs and benefits, do the benefits of a strata loan outweigh the costs?And as Australians, we’re often kidding ourselves.  We say we don’t like debt, but we do it all the time. Who buys an apartment without borrowing?  We actually love mortgages, because we know if we have a mortgage we can get a new house. And apart from the fun that means, we intuitively understand the mathematics, we know that the ROI from having the house or apartment is much higher than the cost of the loan, that’s why we do it.For some people it’s a leap of faith to apply that same intuitive knowledge to the benefits of refurbishing your common property and the return that this creates – increased capital value, emotional return, just feeling good about the place that you live. But it’s not a leap of faith, it’s just a matter of doing the financial maths, and the emotional maths.  Will the return be greater than the cost of investment?What are the benefits of strata loans over special levies?Spreading cash-flows over time and tax benefits for investors If you or some people in your block won’t be able to pay a special levy, then borrowing is the only way to get that necessary work done. And even if you can pay a special levy, borrowing’s likely to be a better way.Would it make a different if the government made it easier for strata schemes to split funding for special projects and financial shortfalls between special levies and strata loans?Woo hoo, the government’s got it right.  It doesn’t mandate whether to have a sinking fund, borrow or have a special levy. And it certainly should not change that and start interfering into what is an owner decision. The government says that once a year you have to think about the best way to fund those upcoming capital works. It has to be like that, each property is different, each owner is different, circumstances always alter cases. The question is what mix of sinking fund, special levy and borrowing is best for your particular building, your community.You are not a big fan of accumulated sinking funds. Why?It’s back to the knowledge and understanding thing. And like strata borrowing or special levies, it’s not a matter of sinking funds being good or bad,

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Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

It’s a bumper edition of the Flat Chat Wrap this week, boosted by an extract from JimmyT’s guest spot on James Valentine’s Afternoons on ABC radio.But first Jimmy and Sue revisit the worst apartments they have ever seen, inspired by stories of the block in Auburn, Sydney, that prompted Building Commissioner David Chandler to seek and get the most comprehensive changes to building and planning laws the state has seen for generations.But for Jimmy and Sue, it all brings back memories of apartments with full-sized bars where the kitchen used to be, the special “disabled” apartment couldn’t let wheelchairs through its doors and the air con system that blew the smoke from one flat into the next.James ValentineThen we get a taste of Jimmy’s guest spot on James Valentine’s Afternoons (you can hear the whole Monday June 22 session here). Among the topics discussed were Jimmy’s PodCom (podcast sitcom), voting for and against pets in company title, how much you should pay for building into your roof space, how much detail there should be in your strata committee minutes, mystery maintenance payments and the right to object to an air-con unit over your terrace.Plants and pantsLater, Sue and Jimmy tackle the issue of what you might find when you buy into a block where the majority of owners are members of the same family.And then this week’s Hey Martha’s are pets and plants in the office, and pants with elasticated waistbands.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.If the link doesn’t take you straight there, just search for Flat Chat Wrap, click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. And please give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

After what has felt like several weeks of doom and gloom, we are looking on the bright side in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap podcast.First of all we chat about Sue’s story in Domain about a new mixed development where affordable rentals will be mixed in with full-price apartments … and you will never know who’s paying full fare and who isn’t.The apartments will be identical so there will be no discrimination … unlike other efforts where the affordable units had a different front door from the other flats in the same building.App chat Then we talk to Brent Clark, best known for WattBlock a company that helps apartment buildings with energy saving, solar feasibility studies, NABERS ratings and electric vehicle charging reports.But that’s not why Brent is on the Pod – maybe next time – he’s Zoomed in to tell us about the WhatsApp community in his block in Chatswood, Sydney, which has blossomed from a casual social tool to an essential piece of community infrastructure.From tracking down a noisy shower that was waking up a dozen or more residents every night, to identifying spiders and establishing whether or not they are venomous, the WhatsApp group has now spread to other buildings in the street.Finally, we discuss whether or not our dining habits will change after the restaurants reopen, Jimmy’s relates his encounter with a protesting martial artist and marks one year since the evacuation of residents from the Mascot Towers while Sue notes the election of a very unusual mayor in Vermont, in the USA.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.If the link doesn’t take you straight there, just search for Flat Chat Wrap, click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. And please give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

There are just two main discussions in this week’s podcast but the topics are both hugely significant in very different ways.In the first we look at the new powers given to NSW Building Commissioner David Chandler to deal with cowboys in the building industry (hence the cowboy music at the top of the podcast).In the second we hear from relationship counsellor and psychologist Amanda Gordon about how to deal with the pressures of being cooped up with your partner in an apartment during this pandemic (and the second wave if there is one).Duty of careDavid Chandler, the NSW Building Commissioner, has finally seen State parliament pass the laws he needs to start sorting the sheep from the goats in the building industry.And part of the way that will work is that any signs of clustering of bad operators – architects, engineers, certifiers, developers and builders - with poor track records in apartment buildings will draw the attention of his team of compliance investigators.Ultimately builders and developer who don’t work to basic minimum standards will be refused certificates of occupation, meaning they won’t be able to sell the units they built. That should put a serious dent in their business models, now and in the future.Another critical aspect of the laws passed at the same time is the establishment of a continuing duty of care, meaning that anyone involved in building an apartment block as an ongoing responsibility to the ultimate apartment owner.In the past, builders have been able to successfully argue in court that their duty of care was to the developer and if the developer no longer existed – often because they have shut up shop before they could be called to account for their crap apartment blocks – the duty of care expired with them.But no more, as Jimmy explains, in the pod and in this story.Too close for comfortThen we go to Armchair Psychology founder Amanda Gordon who talks about how to cope with the stresses and strains of couples being forced to spend much more time together because of the lockdown and working from home.Her answer is to take the time to fix any relationships that are broken – but also make an effort to find some “alone time”.And she points out the difference between doing things together and doing things at the same time.  Watching TV or even riding bikes is not really doing things together since you are just doing the same solo pursuit at the same time.Playing cards or board games, cooking together and doing quizzes are different because you are interacting … and that’s the key.Finally in our “Hey Martha’s” we find out about the intercom that requires you to squat and Jimmy’s exciting project to create a PodCom – a podcast sitcom with real actors performing on Zoom.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.If the link doesn’t take you straight there, just search for Flat Chat Wrap, click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. And please give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

There’s plenty of variety in this week’s forum, from pets to concieges, and from tourism promotions to a survey that suggests lower-income individuals and families do it toughest in apartment blocks.The Podcast opens with an examination of the Tribunal Appeals Panel’s ruling that strata blocks can have “no-pets” by-laws after all.The verdicts issued last week were the results of two appeals against previous decisions by the NSW Civil Administrative Tribunal that by-laws banning pets outright were harsh and discriminatory.Not so, says the Appeals Panel, and its findings have implications far beyond keeping pets in apartments.Most significantly, they reinforce the right of owners to create rules that some people won’t like (but the majority do).More than a doormanThen we talk to Deb Francis of A Class Concierges about how her team members have been handling the challenges of coronavirus and the lockdowns on strata communities, as well as the day-to-day dealing with residents of prestige buildings.Whether it’s being called on to offer advice on how to handle a live crab destined for the dinner table, or providing after-school care for a little boy whose parents were both working late, the concierge is the calm, on-call “butler” for everyone in their building.And it’s not all fun and games.  Concierges also occasionally have to deal with the dreadful day when a resident simply doesn’t respond to phone calls and knocks on the door.But there are the dangers of being too popular, too.  One of her staff had to join a gym after a resident insisted on providing a cooked breakfast and lunch every day.Gov love for Stayz exposedLater in the podcast, Jimmy and Sue discuss the imminent bounce-back of Airbnb and other short-term letting services, including Stayz (HomeAway) whose residential apartments are being promoted on the NSW government’s “Love NSW” tourism website.Then, a million miles from the world of concierges, pet by-law battles and holiday lets,  there’s the survey that reveals that low-income individuals and families are over-represented in apartments.We discuss why they are often the least well-equipped to deal with the challenges that apartment living presents, and how they are poorly represented by rental agents while landlords are kept in the dark.Finally, in his “Hey, Martha!”, Jimmy has discovered a smartphone app that allows you to cheer for your team when you are at home and they are playing behind closed doors.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.Click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. And please give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.

We seem to be so caught up in the day-to-day of avoiding or dealing with the coronavirus, so it’s refreshing to know that some people are thinking of a future way beyond that.In this week’s podcast, Sue Williams revisits a story about an ambitious vision for a brand new city planned for the area near the new airport at Badgerys Creek.If the architects and planners have their way, it will be self-sustaining in energy and water and will even grow enough food to export to other areas.Is it a pipe dream?  The architects have been building communities in the deserts of the Gulf states so they know a bit about making the most of a hostile environment.But, asks Jimmy, how does that stack up against the cheap, cheerless and quick-fix options favoured by our politicians?Owners unite ... by ZoomAlso in this podcast, we talk to Karen Stiles, the energetic executive officer of the Owners Corporation Network about how that key organisation is coping with the challenge of building a community of communities when coronavirus is trying to keep us all at home.The answer lies in technology, she says, and to prove it, they had a very successful seminar on how to keep the short-term letting wolves from the door, which OCN members (exclusively) can now download from their website.It was also Karen who inspired the name of this week’s podcast – wolves and mung beans, but you’ll have to listen to discover how (and we don't mean the coyotes in California that Sue mentions).But seriously, over the past 18 years OCN has grown into a significant and well-respected organisation which has won itself a seat at the table when policy-makers are deciding the shape of our futures in strata.You’ll realise why when Karen outlines her vision for the future of this organisation.Forced outThen, Jimmy relates the alarming tale of a woman who discovered there were 10 apartments in her building that had been let, short term, to people self-isolating after having been found to be at risk from coronavirus.Health experts advised her to get out of the apartment block for her own safety’s sake.  But it raises the question – who thinks the best way to isolate is to go into an apartment block where hundreds of people live (apart from the parasites and predators of the short-term letting industry)?And Sue’s “Hey Martha” is all about an old Temperance Hall, converted into luxury apartments … with a wine cellar.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.If the link doesn’t take you straight there, just search for Flat Chat Wrap, click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying.Oh, and give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

____________________________________________________


Flat Chat is all about apartment living, especially in Australia.
Find us on Facebook  and Twitter and the Flat Chat website.
Send comments and questions to [email protected].
Register to ask and answer questions about apartment living anonymously on the website.
Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.