Blog by We Live Here

This column will be added soon

This column will be added soon

This column will be added soon

Corruption, secret deals, intimidation, blackmail – no, we are not talking about a new TV series – we are talking about owners' corporations across Melbourne.

In our April column we reported on two apartment buildings where owners were suffering after proxy farmers stitched up lucrative contracts.

A by-election for the vacant position of Lord Mayor will be held in May. It will be conducted entirely by postal voting, with ballot packs mailed to voters between Monday 23 April and Thursday 26 April.

The ABC is investigating an issue arising from electricity companies in strata complexes with embedded networks having difficulties trying to change electricity providers or take over the network.

New data on Airbnb listings for Melbourne has shown that between 2016 and 2018 there has been a 132 per cent increase in listings for metropolitan Melbourne and a whopping 186 per cent increase in listings within the City of Melbourne, see Table 1.

The Privy Council in London has unanimously ruled that strata corporations may enforce by-laws to restrict short-term letting.

The Victorian Government must address the state's unregulated commercial short-stay industry, if it's serious about fixing Melbourne's housing affordability crisis.

Whilst we wait for the Victorian Government's response to the recommendations of the Parliamentary Inquiry into short-stays, it is perhaps timely to review what has been happening around the country and overseas.

We Live Here has been working with media professionals to reach out to Victorians affected by the short-stay industry and we have been overwhelmed with support.

The Victorian Government Cladding Taskforce examining flammable cladding does not include a key stakeholder group – the strata owners that would end up having to manage any remediation works.

The Victorian Parliament's Environment and Planning Committee has recommended significant changes to a Bill before Parliament aimed at regulating short-stay accommodation.

A proposal by casino operator Crown to build Australia's tallest building, Queensbridge Towers is set to bypass all normal planning processes and Southbank residents and owners are outraged.

The NSW government has swept aside the recommendations of a parliamentary report and announced a new consultative process to decide how short-stays will be regulated. The discarded report had recommended a massive increase in short-term holiday rentals in apartment buildings.

Founded in San Francisco in 2008, Airbnb has been promoted as an online booking platform that supports young creatives, and people on low incomes, hoping to make extra money out of spare rooms.

Founded in San Francisco in 2008, Airbnb has been promoted as an online booking platform that supports young creatives and people on low incomes, hoping to make extra money out of spare rooms.

We Live Here recently celebrated its first birthday and what a year it has been! As readers of this column will know, the We Live Here movement arose from the long-running but ultimately unsuccessful case against short-stays involving Watergate Apartments in Docklands.

The Owners Corporation Amendment (Short Stay Accommodation) Bill 2016 has been referred back to the Environment and Planning Committee for inquiry.