Furthermore...

Brown Couch reader and legendary tenants advocate, Robert Mowbray, has dropped me a line in response to last week's post about the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act 1948. You'll recall that I mentioned that so-called protected tenants under that Act have great difficulty getting repairs done, and that landlords sometimes let their properties go to ruin in the hope of establishing one of the grounds for termination permitted by the Act (usually referred to as 'ground (m)'). Dr Mowbray and the Older Persons Tenants Service (OPTS) have recently been dealing with such a case. Here's a snap of the view from out of the tenant's ceiling.

(Used with permission of the tenant.)

In this case the tenant, 'Gladys', has occupied the premises for some 60 years, and lived on the same street for all of her 94 years. Because of its restrictions, premises subject to the 1948 Act ('controlled premises') are bought and sold at a significant discount, so Gladys has had a succession of landlords over the years, each, presumably, hoping that one way or another she'd shuffle off and thereby leave the owner with a handsome windfall. And, with the hole in the ceiling opening up and the need for reconstruction growing, 'ground (m)' looms.

I'll let Robert finish the story: he's written it up for the next article of 'Around the House', the newsletter of Shelter NSW. Do join up and get your copy. And if you or someone you know is a very long-standing private tenant (ie in the same place since before 1986), please consider getting in touch with OPTS to see if the 1948 Act might apply.

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And further to another recent post – our study of Friz Freleng's 1950 Room and Bird and its significance for landlord-tenant-pet relations – readers of the Brown Couch will be pleased to learn that agent-baiter par excellence David Thorne has recently corresponded with his landlord's strata manager about an alleged dog. Not to worry, writes Mr Thorne:

I am currently soundproofing my apartment with egg cartons as I realise my dogs can cause quite a bit of noise. Especially during feeding time when I release live rabbits.

Do follow the link and read the whole correspondence. He should write for the cartoons.