Just after we locked off the Forum Roundup last week, we received a post listing a litany of unfair restrictions the poster claimed had been snuck in under cover of covid.
On the face of it, it seems like a clumsy attempt to create a no short-term lets by-law, by restricting the access of guests to the flat, common property facilities, and even preventing the host from holding or attending parties.
And then it dawned on me. I was only getting half the picture and there was a chance that these rules were directed at those Airbnb hosts who let rooms in what they say are their homes (which is specifically allowed in the NSW strata Act) when in fact they live somewhere else.
And maybe they do allow their guests to throw noisy parties, or host them themselves. Nobody wants a party flat in their building.
What’s hard to divine here is whether we have an owners corporation that’s trying to plug the holes left by section 137A of the Act because they don’t want any holiday let guests at all, regardless of whether or not the host is in residence (not legal, by the way).
Or maybe it’s an owners corp who knows this isn’t the host’s principle place of residence but can’t prove it, and is now trying to formalise some ways of deterring them.
It could even be a strata scheme panicking at the thought of strangers coming into their building carrying Covid -19.
And, then again, perhaps we have been contacted by an unrelated owner altogether who doesn’t understand why these restrictive rules have suddenly appeared.
Have a look HERE and you be the judge.
Elsewhere in the Forum
- Owners are demanding a Royal Commission into strata managers. It’s not going to happen, but you can feel their frustration HERE.
- Can our strata committee close our gym and pool because of coronavirus. No they can’t … hang on, yes they can … wait a minute, no they can’t. All is explained HERE.
- The bloke next door is always fixing his car and revving the engine. It’s noisy and the fumes stink. But when we say “next door” we mean the adjoining block. That’s HERE.
- What’s the best way to approach an NCAT hearing? All guns blazing or something a bit more subtle? That’s HERE.
- Can the developer sign us up to a 10-year management agreement before the first AGM? That’s HERE.
There will be a stack more questions for you to answer … or just read … by the time you log back into the Forum.
