This week’s podcast may be the first of 2021 but 2020 doesn’t get away that easily.Last year will be remembered in global politics as the year of Brexit, Trump, the Covid-19 Pandemic, and the Trump-rump. Democracy in the USA is hanging by a thread but it will survive.Talking about democracy, on a much more local level, we look back at the battle over “no-pets” by-laws and how it tore apart two apartment blocks, and made NCAT look pretty foolish too.Listen HereInevitably, we examine the entrails of holiday lets like Airbnb. In NSW, in particular, the slow drip feed of legislation to control the hitherto unfettered spread of holiday lets was a lesson in what happens when politicians make half-baked decisions that they neither fully support nor the consequences of which they fully appreciate.Meanwhile, Airbnb’s flacks continue their policy of answering only the questions they wish you’d asked rather than those for which we require answers.Sadly, it seems, Stayz aren’t much better these days, especially when it comes to manipulating statistics. It makes you wonder how dumb our politicians have to be to fall for all this claptrap.Collateral damageIt would be nice if someone just came out and said “we desperately need tourist dollars and apartment residents – especially renters – are just collateral damage in the ongoing battle for bucks. Please go and live in a crappy area where no one wants to go and give us some peace.”We also look at the effect of the pandemic across Australia and realise that it’s all intricately intertwined. Covid-19 lockdowns and lock-outs forced a lot of holiday letting hosts out of the market – which was great news for renters – but then compelled people to holiday nearer to home, which saw holiday lets come roaring back when locals who could travel replaced all the foreign visitors who were not allowed to come here.Oh, and the lockdowns persuaded lots of apartment owners to get pets, which takes us back to the first item.DefectsThen there was the continuing story of apartment block defects and the powers finally granted to Building Commissioner David Chandler to put the blowtorch to the belly of dodgy developers. We won’t see the results of his handiwork for years, when apartment blocks stop falling over.And we talk about changes to the legislations of various states plus build-to-rent, the new (old) way of renting. One landlord, no strata committee, great facilities, long leases and no bond.See, something good did come out of 2020 after all.Transcript in fullJimmy 00:002020 was a pretty horrific year across Australia, and you'd think the only story in town was COVID-19, but we're looking back at the whole year, purely through the prism of strata. There's a lot to talk about. We'll try and get it all into this episode. I'm Jimmy Thomson.Sue 00:21And I'm Sue Williams.Jimmy 00:22And this is the Flat Chat Wrap. Jimmy2020, Sue?Sue 00:40It was a huge year, wasn't it, in lots of ways?Jimmy 00:42Glad to see the back of it.Sue 00:43Yes, absolutely. Let's hope the next one is a good one.Jimmy 00:47COVID 19; it affected just about every aspect of Australian life, but there was other stuff going on, especially in strata. What was the big story th
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Recorded by Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams; Transcribed by Otter.ai.
Find out more about Sue Williams and Jimmy Thomson on their websites.
