This week’s podcast makes a brave effort to pretend life is going on as normal … and almost pulls it off.We talk about the new DNA for apartment blocks, or the Building Assurance Solution, to give it its proper name, which the NSW government says is going to help track down dodgy developers, just like forensic scientists catching criminals on TV dramas.Then we talk about a development in one of Sydney’s most affluent areas that has seen work halted until problems with the construction are fixed. LISTEN HEREThe developers and some early off-the-plan purchasers are saying “nothing to see here”. The government is saying fix the problems or you won’t get an occupancy certificate.And we talk about the areas where residential apartment rents and investment yields are soaring, which is just about everywhere … except Sydney and Melbourne, where most of our apartments are.But first we get into the nitty gritty of compulsory mask wearing in common property areas of apartment blocks and ask why it was, less than two weeks ago, that NSW Health didn’t even think it was worth suggesting this sensible precaution to apartment residents, let alone ordering us to mask up.Could it be the rapid spread of Covid-19 in apartment blocks? This episode was recorded before the 29-unit block in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, where eight infections across five households were discovered.This new variant of the virus is spreading so fast that even we almost can’t keep up … almost. But we've managed to bring out a bumper edition of the podcast to help get you through whatever impacts Covid-19 is having wherever you live.And as of today, the Flat Chat crew will be fully vaccinated and masked to the max, so - fingers crossed - we’ll be here keeping you informed and entertained for a while.TRANSCRIPT IN FULLJimmy 0:00So, straight from isolation into lockdown; the never-ending lockdown. But, at least it gives us a chance to catch up on things, like tidying our offices.Sue 0:12Absolutely! I completely tidied mine today.Jimmy 0:14And then, you couldn't find what you were looking for.Sue 0:16I couldn't find anything at all!Jimmy 0:20Right, so we have nothing to talk about (that's not true). We're going to talk about the lockdown; we're going to talk about mask wearing. We're going to talk about a thing called the Building Assurance Solution, which sounds like a cleaning product, but is in fact, a brilliant (allegedly), idea to have all new buildings have a kind of digital DNA, so you know everything about what went into the construction. And, we're going to talk about rents and yields. I'm Jimmy Thomson, I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review.Sue 0:56And I'm Sue Williams and I write about property for Domain.Jimmy 0:59And this is the Flat Chat Wrap.[MUSIC]JimmySo, last week, after we'd recorded the podcast (complaining about how the government wasn't taking the casual infection of people living in apartments and meeting each other in common property seriously), they issued an advisory, telling people who were in apartment buildings; in common property, that they should wear masks.Sue 1:40They suggested it, that we should.Jimmy 1:41It would be a good idea. And that is good; that'
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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.
