Podcast 76: Pet bans, live crabs and gov-love for holiday rentals

There’s plenty of variety in this week’s forum, from pets to concieges, and from tourism promotions to a survey that suggests lower-income individuals and families do it toughest in apartment blocks.The Podcast opens with an examination of the Tribunal Appeals Panel’s ruling that strata blocks can have “no-pets” by-laws after all.The verdicts issued last week were the results of two appeals against previous decisions by the NSW Civil Administrative Tribunal that by-laws banning pets outright were harsh and discriminatory.Not so, says the Appeals Panel, and its findings have implications far beyond keeping pets in apartments.Most significantly, they reinforce the right of owners to create rules that some people won’t like (but the majority do).More than a doormanThen we talk to Deb Francis of A Class Concierges about how her team members have been handling the challenges of coronavirus and the lockdowns on strata communities, as well as the day-to-day dealing with residents of prestige buildings.Whether it’s being called on to offer advice on how to handle a live crab destined for the dinner table, or providing after-school care for a little boy whose parents were both working late, the concierge is the calm, on-call “butler” for everyone in their building.And it’s not all fun and games.  Concierges also occasionally have to deal with the dreadful day when a resident simply doesn’t respond to phone calls and knocks on the door.But there are the dangers of being too popular, too.  One of her staff had to join a gym after a resident insisted on providing a cooked breakfast and lunch every day.Gov love for Stayz exposedLater in the podcast, Jimmy and Sue discuss the imminent bounce-back of Airbnb and other short-term letting services, including Stayz (HomeAway) whose residential apartments are being promoted on the NSW government’s “Love NSW” tourism website.Then, a million miles from the world of concierges, pet by-law battles and holiday lets,  there’s the survey that reveals that low-income individuals and families are over-represented in apartments.We discuss why they are often the least well-equipped to deal with the challenges that apartment living presents, and how they are poorly represented by rental agents while landlords are kept in the dark.Finally, in his “Hey, Martha!”, Jimmy has discovered a smartphone app that allows you to cheer for your team when you are at home and they are playing behind closed doors.Listen hereIf you haven’t already done so you can subscribe to this podcast, completely free, on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher or your favourite podcatcher.Click on subscribe, and you’ll get this podcast every week without even trying. And please give us a rating or review … it all helps to keep us going.

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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.