Building a Granny Flat

Sorry, the guy did tell me the right information, i just didnt post it clearly.

If i joined the the granny to the garage and had it as one dwelling, it could only be a maximum of 60sqm. This would require DA approval.

Alternatively I could join the granny flat to the garage and treat it as two separate dwellings, however i would need to fire rated walls and would need to convince the certifier it was going to remain as two separate dwellings and no door way would be created between the two.

Anyway, I have told the guy to leave a gap of 900mm to 1000mm between the garage and the granny flat to keep it simple.

That said, im now thinking of a new idea.

1. Add a toilet/shower and a space for a washing machine + mini kitchen.
2. When i rent out the granny flat, I would advertise it as a 2 bedder + 1 bedder self contained studio unit "teenagers retreat / home office". It would then be up to the renter if they wanted to sublease (though i wouldnt offer that in writing, rather i'd just turn a blind eye).

So what would fetch me more in rent?

2 Bedder + Garage
2 Bedder + 1 Self contained unit (this will also have its own access from the street).

Alternatively, I can try to apply for DA to get the existing garage extended from 7m to 11~12m, that way i can have a room while still retaining the garage. Though im not sure if that will be approved seeing it already fails the current council's rules (ie its right up to the rear fence, and councils rules are 3m from the rear fence).

neK said:

So what would fetch me more in rent?
2 Bedder + Garage

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Garage adds about $15-20pw to the rental

neK said:

2 Bedder + 1 Self contained unit (this will also have its own access from the street).

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1 Self contained unit adds about $200-250pw to the rental

You do the maths

Propertunity said:

Garage adds about $15-20pw to the rental



1 Self contained unit adds about $200-250pw to the rental

You do the maths

Click to expand...

If the existing house rents for $430 per week, and my agent reckons a 2bedder granny flat will rent between $300-$350, i would be cheering if i could get $500 per week, though realistically, im thinking $400 to $450 per week.

Its an old garage, but i intend to take down all the existing fibro and re-clad the whole thing and put proper walls on the inside as well as a ceiling. Thing is, it will still have a garage door at the front.

Alternative is to put in a double door, which is what it has now and make sure its properly sealed. For flooring, it will probably be vinyl so it can be rolled up if a car wants to parked inside.

It is feasible? Or will renters look at it and think "WTF"

Opinions on designs

Got some good feedback on my proposed granny flat design last time, so im hoping for something similar.

The key differences between the two designs are the position of the toilet and laundry.

Type 2 allows the kitchen to be bigger but at the expense of having a toilet near the main entry. Do you think having the toilet door facing the main entry door is an issue?

That said, the positive about it is if you're ever busting to the toilet you dont have far to run

neK said:

Sorry, the guy did tell me the right information, i just didnt post it clearly.

If i joined the the granny to the garage and had it as one dwelling, it could only be a maximum of 60sqm. This would require DA approval.

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No.

You're allowed a granny flat of max 60 sq m under the SEPP> it can also:
1. Have 12 sq m of awning/verandah/patio etc
2. Touch the house or ANY other structure



To quote the SEPP:


"The floor area of a principal dwelling, secondary dwelling and any carport, garage, balcony, deck, patio, pergola, terrace or verandah attached to either dwelling and enclosed by a wall (other than the external wall of a dwelling) higher than 1.4 metres above the floor level on a lot must not be more than the following:
(a) 330 square metres, if the lot has an area of at least 450 square metres but less than 600 square metres,
(b) 380 square metres, if the lot has an area of at least 600 square metres but less than 900 square metres,
(c) 430 square metres, if the lot has an area of at least 900 square metres."


As you can see, a garage can, indeed, be attached to a secondary dwelling (granny flat) and wont affect the maximum allowable size of the new granny flat.

Ofcourse the combined floor area of all of these elements cant be more than the listed amount ^.

I hope this helps.

Thanks for the clarification Brazen

A question to all investment property folk.

What is type of flooring is best suited to an investment property

Im thinking tiles in the living areas with carpet in the bedrooms.

From a maintenance perspective, tiled throughout would be nice, but i dont think its as appealing to have tiles in the bedroom.

One of my IP's has wooden floor boards throughout, I think it looks nice in the house and the ongoing maintenance is low (ie a quick mop and it looks pretty good again).

Im concerned about carpet because unless you really really take care of it, it gets old pretty quickly.

Am I being overly paranoid? Should i just leave carpet in the living areas? Im guessing its probably cheaper upfront (btw this is all for a new granny flat).

More decisions

Sorry for all these questions, but im hoping that if i get it right (or at least close to it), I can minimise my expenses going forward.

Ive got two potential options and im unsure of which path to take. Each option has its pros and cons.

Option #1

• Demolish old carport - Extra costs
• Place the proposed granny flat closer to the existing garage.
• his will allow an approximate 6.2m gap between the existing house and the proposed fence (line in red). Allowing the existing house to have a bigger back yard (total back yard size is approx 6.2 x 15.24)

Option #2

• Retain existing carport (save money)
• Gives extra parking space.
• Place proposed granny flat further further away from the garage.
• This means the existing house has a smaller back yard (4.2m x 15.24).
• Also reduces the amount of space I have to build in the future(should i choose to knock down the existing house and rebuild another one).
• But the immediate benefits is that I can fix the old garage, add a bathroom legally and potentially be able to market the proposed granny flat as a "2 bed house + workshop" resulting in potentially higher rent.

Im guessing the overall costs should be same in either option because if I choose option #1, i will most likely NOT add a bathroom to the garage and keep as a garage.

However going option #2 the money saved from demolishing the existing carport will be put towards making the garage into a "workshop" with a toilet.

My biggest concern is the limiting of space for future development.

Any comments or opinions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Nek, where is north? and are you able to fence the secondary road side to create definite yard areas?

Rockstar said:

Nek, where is north? and are you able to fence the secondary road side to create definite yard areas?

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Yes i can fence the secondary road side. There isnt a fence right now, but I have contacted council and they have confirmed it.

The redlines are where I would most likely put a fence.
The granny flat would not have a front fence, or if it does, it would be a typical 1m high white fence or something similar to that.

I've drawn where north is on the picture. In my design I actually dont have any windows opening on the south side. Is this a good or bad thing?

Nek,

You sure you got your orientation right?
The shadows don't seem to work out.

Yep. Maybe its the time of day the picture was taken? Im guessing it was taken in the afternoon?

Im using http://www.nearmap.com/ instead of google maps.

Still don't think it's right.

Shadows can only be on the west, south and east sides of the house from sunrise to sunset.
Your shadows seem to be on the North-East side?

Looks like the photo was taken close to midday as the shadows aren't long, meaning the sun was high in the sky, could have been midday in winter too as the sun is lower.
In this case, the shadows should be on the south side of the house.

I would just double confirm the orientation before you put your granny flat in.

The photo used in the above images was taken 14 Nov 2009.

Here's a google map of it (no idea of what date this was taken, but probably closer to 3 years ago).
Im assuming the google always has the north in the upward direction.

The orientation is probably north east.
This would essentially give the granny flat an aspect of north east (more east though).

Therefore the bedroom would get most the morning sun, while the living areas would get the afternoon sun.

Looking at my pics again, I think I know where I stuffed up. My drawing of the arrow is pretty small and easy to miss. I've redraw the arrow again

Hey Nek do you have a floorplan of the existing house? North seems correct to me on your diagram. Who will be using the existing garage? Sorry for not re reading the whole thread.

Nek, I would be turning that little baby around and reverse image it like so. Get all the north light into the living areas mate.

Here is a quick drawing of the existing house I just made. Rooms probably arent the exact dimensions, but it will give you an idea of what the house is like.

Once the granny flat is built, the existing garage will be allocated to the granny flat. The existing house will NOT get any parking at all.

Initially I was trying to refrain from having any windows being exposed the main house, but that reversal idea sounds good, but im concerned about the existing house's backyard looking into that window. Will that be ok?

That's great Nek, now give us a scale plan of the whole site. Spin the revised plan around and put it on the aerial shot. I want to see how many metres you have between the dwellings. I would certainly fence between them for privacy. This will get you a better yield. Where is the existing clothesline for the house?

Don't know whether someone would be interested in this, but check out this granny flat.

EBAY GRANNY FLAT 1

One bedroom granny flat, with everything already hooked up and ready to go. Just need to prepare the place for it to go, and hook up you power and plumbing. If you got it for 30k, it doesn't seem too bad.

Or something like this...

EBAY GRANNY FLAT 2

I know the second especially looks more like an office but with a kitchen sink & oven, toilet and shower. It might be ok for temporary student accomodation...?

Rockstar said:

Nek, I would be turning that little baby around and reverse image it like so. Get all the north light into the living areas mate.

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Just wondering, by rotating the granny like that I would maximise light into the living areas, but what about the bedrooms?

Wouldn't that result in the bedrooms getting very little sunlight?

I remember visiting my neighbour who's apartment was facing south and it was quite cold during the winter (substantially colder than mine, and mine was right next door, but I had an easterly aspect).

neK said:

Just wondering, by rotating the granny like that I would maximise light into the living areas, but what about the bedrooms?

Wouldn't that result in the bedrooms getting very little sunlight?

I remember visiting my neighbour who's apartment was facing south and it was quite cold during the winter (substantially colder than mine, and mine was right next door, but I had an easterly aspect).

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Better to be cold in the bedrooms than cold in the living rooms