By-laws Of The Jungle

Sydney Morning Herald

Thursday September 9, 2004

Harvey Greenan

What are the typical gripes of the 1.5 million people in NSW who live in units? And can anything be done to fix them?

These are some of the issues covered in yet another review of strata laws being undertaken by the Office of Fair Trading, which has issued a discussion paper, Strata Schemes in 2004. Public comment on the paper closes tomorrow.

According to the office, the issues that cause the most disputes among apartment and villa dwellers are noise, car parking, drying of washing and garbage disposal.

The behaviour of occupants, good or bad, is covered by the by-laws of each strata scheme. While owners' corporations have the power to amend their by-laws to address their own problems, most choose the standard by-laws provided in the 1996 Strata Schemes Management Act.

Noise is the number one cause of aggravation, with constant complaints about loud music, noisy sex and even routine bodily functions being clearly heard in the unit next door. From May this year, the building code required better sound insulation between units, but disputes over noise in existing buildings will not go away.

Current by-laws say residents must not make noise that is likely to interfere with the peace of others and that all floors, except in kitchens, laundries and bathrooms, must be covered or treated to prevent the transmission of noise to other units.

How can these by-laws be made less vague? And what should be done about those trendy (and noisy) floating timber-ply floors? Suggestions range from specifying? what types of floor coverings may be used, removing the exemption for kitchens and bathrooms or simply improving the procedure for resolving conflicts.

People parking cars where they shouldn't is another big cause of annoyance. Some

owners' corporations have called for the legal right to wheel-clamp or tow away offending vehicles. The current standard by-law is a toothless tiger that simply says vehicles may not be parked on common property without written approval.

Hanging undies on the balcony also upsets a lot of fellow residents. This is a breach of the relevant by-law but is often not enforced.

The standard by-law on garbage disposal, which simply tells residents to put their garbage in a bin and put it out for collection, is out of date. It says nothing about recycling and other realities of modern waste collection.

Another standard by-law requires owners or occupiers to keep their windows clean, but it is considered impractical in high-rise buildings because the average resident is not Spiderman. "Retention of the by-law in its current form may have negligible value," the discussion paper says.

Should we remould these by-laws to make them more workable? Or should we make owners' corporations draft their own rules for their own circumstances?

For information, phone 9338 8913 or go to www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au and see "News updates". Responses can be emailed to Policy@oft.commerce.nsw.gov.au

Rare find

34-44 Pidcock Street, Camperdown

From $575,000

In a quiet cul-de-sac opposite Camperdown Park, these six two-storey terraces are a good entry for people seeking a toehold in the inner west. Each has two bedrooms, plus study, separate lounge and dining rooms and rear gardens. The kitchens and bathrooms of some homes have been renovated.

Inspect Sat 2-2.45pm

Agent Ian McPhee, 9552 1800, 0412 818 181

HIDDEN LAND TAXES

At the recent announcement of Mirvac's $250 million profit, company supremo Bob Hamilton dropped an interesting figure. "Of the total cost to develop a block of land in some areas of western Sydney, more than $120,000 a lot is represented by taxes and other [government] levies. These costs are inevitably borne by the buyers in these new areas - predominantly first-home buyers," he said. Meanwhile, the State Opposition is asking what has happened to the 90,000 new blocks promised at Bringelly.

HARDER TO AFFORD

Housing affordability declined again in the June quarter to its lowest level since 1990, according to the latest AMP-Real Estate Institute home-loan affordability report. This was because the average loan increased by 5.4 per cent to $213,515.

HOUSE SALES UP

Sydney house prices remained static in the June quarter but falling sales recovered dramatically after six months. The Real Estate Institute says house sales increased 27.97 per cent over the quarter and 1.93 per cent over the year, while unit sales rose 36.46 per cent for the quarter and 2.05 per cent for the year.

WAYS WITH WATER

Nylex will release more than 100 water-saving products for the home and industry over the next four months. The range includes water recycling systems and fresh-water filters. For the garden there will be flow-controlled watering kits and drip irrigation systems. With the ongoing water restrictions, sales are expected to reach

$30 million a year.

UNIT PROTEST

Harry Seidler and wife Penelope have joined the campaign against selling off part of the Ku-ring-gai Campus of the University of Technology, Sydney, as apartments. In

a message from Vienna, Penelope Seidler said it was an outrage the campus was being considered for other uses. She was a business student at Ku-ring-gai from 1978 to 1980.

BRISBANE FLOODED

Property analyst Alan Midwood and fellow forecaster Michael Matusik just can't agree on the outlook for inner-Brisbane units. Midwood says the CBD is showing signs of oversupply, with 744 new apartments completed in the past six months. Other inner suburbs would feel the pinch in the first six months of next year when 1096 units would be completed.