Cracks in the Compact City: Tackling defects in multi-unit strata housing
Author or co-authors: Laura Crommelin, Sian Thompson, Hazel Easthope, Martin Loosemore, Hyungmo Yang, Caitlin Buckle, Bill Randolph
Published: Crommelin, L., Thompson, S., Easthope, H., Loosemore, M., Yang, H., Buckle, C. and Randolph, B., 2021. Cracks in the Compact City: tackling defects in multi-unit strata housing.
Keywords: Defects, Development, Information available to owners and residents, Insurance,
Summary:
The report addresses the serious and growing problem of building defects in the trillion dollar multi-unit housing sector. The research investigates the prevalence of building defects, why they occur and how multi-unit housing quality can be improved. The findings are intended to inform changes to planning and development policy and regulation, leading to improved building quality and safety, lower costs and stress for owners, more resilient urban communities, and better urban planning outcomes.Planning for Lower‐Income Households in Privately Developed High‐Density Neighbourhoods in Sydney, Australia
Author or co-authors: Hazel Easthope, Laura Crommelin, Sophie-May Kerr, Laurence Troy, Ryan van den Nouwelant, Gethin Davison
Published: Easthope, H., Crommelin, L., Kerr, S.M., Troy, L., van den Nouwelant, R. and Davison, G., 2022. Planning for Lower-Income Households in Privately Developed High-Density Neighbourhoods in Sydney, Australia. Urban Planning, 7(4), pp.213-228.
Keywords: Liveability, Planning, Policy, Qualitative research/interviews,
Summary:
In Australia, private high‐density housing is typically marketed as the domain of middle‐ and higher‐income residents. In practice, it accommodates many lower‐income households. This has implications for public infrastructure planning in high‐density neighbourhoods where private property ownership dominates. Examining two case-studies with markedly different day-to-day experiences, this article argues that coordinated and collaborative planning processes are key to ensuring that the needs of lower‐income households are met in privately developed apartment neighbourhoods.Influences on Apartment Design: A History of the Spatial Layout of Apartment Buildings in Sydney and Implications for the Future
Author or co-authors: Philip Oldfield, Hazel Easthope, Hyungmo Yang
Keywords: Architecture, Design, Environment, Planning, Sustainability,
Summary:
This paper traces the history of apartment design with an emphasis on spatial layout. It charts the events that have influenced apartment design in Sydney, Australia and provides a framework for understanding how changes in society, the economy, regulations, and architectural paradigms have influenced apartment layouts over time. Through a review of historical and contemporary apartment plan drawings in Sydney, we identify four chronologically distinct eras.Condominium: A Transformative Innovation in Property and Local Government
Author or co-authors: Douglas Harris
Published: Douglas C Harris, “Condominium: A Transformative Innovation in Property and Local Government” in Nicole Graham, Margaret Davies, & Lee Godden, eds, The Routledge Handbook of Property, Law, and Society (Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2022) 113.
Keywords: Governance, Home ownership, Law,
Summary:
As one form of common interest community, condominium packages private property with a co-ownership interest in common property and rights to participate in the governing organisation. A statutory innovation, the condominium form has been adopted in jurisdictions around the world and has quickly become the dominant form of land ownership for new-build housing in many cities. As an increasingly prominent feature of urban real estate, condominium is changing the nature of ownership and of local government, and is one of the defining institutions of our time.A data-driven holistic understanding of strata insurance in Australia and New Zealand
Author or co-authors: Nicole Johnston
Published: Johnston, N., Lee, A., Mishra, S., Powell, K., Bowler- Smith, M and Zutshi, A. (2021) A data-driven holistic understanding of strata insurance in Australia and New Zealand. Deakin University
Keywords: Building management, Financial management, Insurance, Law,
Summary:
This report examines the complexities of strata insurance and the role of strata managers in this process. It highlights increased costs of strata insurance over the period 2016-2020 and the significant imposition of state and federal taxes. The legal complexities of strata and obligations imposed on owners corporations and bodies corporate to insure are outlined. The report recommends changes including a more transparent disclosure regime so that consumers are more informed about insurance processes and the fees imposed by management companies and others in the strata insurance supply chain.