FLAT CHAT WRAP
FLAT CHAT WRAP
Jimmy Thomson & Sue Williams
Podcast: Life savings lost thanks to dodgy dealing
24 minutes Posted Mar 23, 2021 at 5:54 am.
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Show notes
In this week’s Flat Chat Wrap we discuss the awful story about the young woman who put her life savings into a deposit on a flat in a block that’s turned out not only to be riddled with defects, but was certified by an unlicensed tradie and subsequently OK’d by the local council.
Now she faces the very real choice between losing her $60k+ deposit or finalising the purchase of a flat she knows is seriously defective and with no legal approvals.
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Then there’s the local council that’s telling developers they can build higher if they don’t install gas but do put solar panels on the roof to supply 40 percent of the block’s electricity needs.
This is a clear example of a council taking positive action on climate change – and if you wonder if that’s an over-reach, ask the people being rescued from floods right now.
But can electricity ever be as good as gas for cooking?  One celebrity chef thinks so.
We also hear about government plans to make it harder for developers to build “affordable” new generation boarding houses. 
Why would they make it harder?  Because developers are getting planning concessions and then charging top dollar for the bed-sits.
Wow!  Developers taking advantage of planning concessions to make some extra dosh?  Who’da thunk it?
And finally, there’s the couple who were so worried about the potential noise from proposed renovations in the apartment block next to their luxury beach-side home, that they bought the whole block.
Is it so they can, if they want, shut the renos down? Or do they just want to be able to choose their neighbours?
That’s all in this week’s Flat Chat Wrap.
Transcript In Full
Jimmy 
They say it never rains, but it pours. It's certainly pouring outside at the moment, and it's been raining stories on your computer, Sue Williams?
Sue 
It sure has.
Jimmy 
We have a lot to get through today. We've got a story about a woman who's going to lose a deposit on her apartment because somebody certified it, who wasn't entitled to certify it. We've got a story about a developer, building apartments with no gas for cooking. We've got a story about developers wanting to develop… what do you call them?
Sue
New generation boarding houses.
Jimmy
New generation boarding houses, and the couple who have bought the apartment block next door, so that it doesn't get renovated and disturb their peace and quiet. If only we had that much money!  I'm Jimmy Thomson. I write the Flat Chat column for the Australian Financial Review.