student accommodation regulations

BTW, Just referred on by my friendly CBA Bank mgr to an excellent firm for dealing with Insurance on this kinda thing....Here is the story from one Insurance guy to the next....... This is for a normal 2 story house that we have converted into 7 bedrooms with 7 unrelated people in it. It all happened over the last two days.....
==================================================

We contacted the recommended, Mr. Insurance, and found him well, kind of a Shrek without the nice side.
Also called up his related Broker office and spoke with a "specialist". Same reception. She was really forceful, "U can't do this, U have to do that, we wont allow that...blah, blah, blah" They wanted a $7000 wiring scheme and certificates and who knows what, then they were going to add $2000 a year for the insurance!:eek:

So, I thought, there has to be a better way. Others must be covered and NOT using Mr. Insurance and associates.

So I called up my friendly CBA Bank manager, who is about the best Bank guy I have come across EVER, and he gave me the following contact:

Company XYZ....General and Fire Insurance.

Well, what a pleasant change! "Yes, we can help with that. No problems"

Then over the next day or two, they rang around about ten different Insurance companies and found 3 that would be happy to cover us, with 7 unrelated people in a house. No need for any re-wiring and certificates and who knows what else.
Plain simple policy...And it costs $967. So that was a pleasant change also. :D

U see Mr. Insurance and co. are using the age old Insurance tactic of FEAR! "Frighten them enough, bamboozle them with FACTS and they will pay anything you ask!!"
===================================================

So that was the story of my first venture in to Insurance for a multiple dwelling house. U just gotta make the right contacts.
If anyone is interested to know the "nice guys", pls message me and I shall be happy to chat.
Oh, and apologies to Shrek for any improprieties in comparisons made. ;)
Cheers,
John Bradshaw
 
Perp said:
A hybrid discretionary trust allows income and assets to be held in different proportions by different members, and thus may allow losses to be offset against other income, though many accountants think the ATO will rule against this use of HDTs. The ATO have been thinking about it for a year or two, though, and haven't ruled them out yet, though :) There's a lot of discussion about hybrid trusts on this forum, and Macquarie outline the hybrid discretionary trust here.

Caboolture is my insurance broker, not my property manager. I don't care where he is; I've never felt a need to go there. :)

I guess you could, but you'd need to get up to speed on quite a lot of legislation and regulation; it is quite different to a standard residential lease. Personally, I wouldn't self-manage, but I have no interest in providing student accommodation; I'm only in the business because it's the optimal use of the property that I've invested in, if you know what I mean. But I'm sure it's doable, if you're good with paperwork.

I can't stress enough how important it is to get your compliance with fire regulations perfect, and this definitely should be outsourced. Greg Roach of Budget Accommodation Solutions, ph 0408 715 590, is "the" man in this arena in SE QLD. Who and what he doesn't know, isn't worth knowing. ;)
Click to expand...

LOL, that's my old man.
 
Small world eh Roachy?!

Just a quick note to thank you guys for this thread. I've been considering changing a house I already own into a student boarding house.

Further, I'm considering buying a property that has three self contained units on the one site... without council approval! Thought I could get around that with the council by renting out each of the three units in the 'house' under F18 rooming accommodation agreements.

Started looking into the regulation and the act and decided it was looking grim... then popped in here to see what the Somersoft crew have been exploring on the topic. Well, now I'm not very sure what to do!

But at least my fantasy of just doing three F18 agreements is addressed. Nothing like a good reality check to help avoid getting into a situation where I end up being chased by govt's lawyers!!! ;)

It's really kind when people share their experience and contacts like this. You have +20 to your karma guys. :cool:
 
NSW regulations

Hi folks, I'm in need of some help. I'm very green in this area so please bear with me

Does anyone know the reg's for NSW? I've been reading the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 and I can't see it mentioning a maximum number of tenants before a different set of rules apply.

Over the weekend I came across a 9/3/5 that the agent claimed yields 10.3% when fully let. It's a few km's from the uni so I'm assuming is used as student accom although it's also about a block from a hospital so could be let to hospital staff (message left for agent to check what type of tenants they are as well as the vacancy rate for the last year).

Where should I be looking for specific reg's on multiple tenancies in NSW and is it different for students v young professionals?
What sort of questions should I be asking of the agent?

Thanks
 
Usually the council is the government body that deals with student accommodation / house shares. Best speak to them about the relevant Acts.
 
Insurance for student accommodation

hi all, I am considering converting a house I have to student accommodation and just want to tick all the boxes before I take the leap. Insurance seems to be an area that I can't find much info about.
I've heard it's quite a bit different to normal investment properties and want to make sure I get the right advice.
Any ideas are appreciated.
 
Propertyfrog said:
hi all, I am considering converting a house I have to student accommodation and just want to tick all the boxes before I take the leap. Insurance seems to be an area that I can't find much info about.
I've heard it's quite a bit different to normal investment properties and want to make sure I get the right advice.
Any ideas are appreciated.
Click to expand...

We were considering doing the same to our old family home (of 6 bedrooms) and I endud up calling around about 5 different brokers, none of whom sounded like they knew anything about student accomm/multi-lease dwellings. Somehow I found an industry site which led me here http://studentaccommodationinsurance.com.au/

And in 30 minutes the lady told me more about the regulations that I had found out in about a week of searching. We didn't end up doing the conversion but if you are looking for student accommodation insurance then that's probably the place to start.
 
Insurance

Hi,
Could you please provide me with the details for the insurance blokes?
Thanks


bradje said:
BTW, Just referred on by my friendly CBA Bank mgr to an excellent firm for dealing with Insurance on this kinda thing....Here is the story from one Insurance guy to the next....... This is for a normal 2 story house that we have converted into 7 bedrooms with 7 unrelated people in it. It all happened over the last two days.....
==================================================

We contacted the recommended, Mr. Insurance, and found him well, kind of a Shrek without the nice side.
Also called up his related Broker office and spoke with a "specialist". Same reception. She was really forceful, "U can't do this, U have to do that, we wont allow that...blah, blah, blah" They wanted a $7000 wiring scheme and certificates and who knows what, then they were going to add $2000 a year for the insurance!:eek:

So, I thought, there has to be a better way. Others must be covered and NOT using Mr. Insurance and associates.

So I called up my friendly CBA Bank manager, who is about the best Bank guy I have come across EVER, and he gave me the following contact:

Company XYZ....General and Fire Insurance.

Well, what a pleasant change! "Yes, we can help with that. No problems"

Then over the next day or two, they rang around about ten different Insurance companies and found 3 that would be happy to cover us, with 7 unrelated people in a house. No need for any re-wiring and certificates and who knows what else.
Plain simple policy...And it costs $967. So that was a pleasant change also. :D

U see Mr. Insurance and co. are using the age old Insurance tactic of FEAR! "Frighten them enough, bamboozle them with FACTS and they will pay anything you ask!!"
===================================================

So that was the story of my first venture in to Insurance for a multiple dwelling house. U just gotta make the right contacts.
If anyone is interested to know the "nice guys", pls message me and I shall be happy to chat.
Oh, and apologies to Shrek for any improprieties in comparisons made. ;)
Cheers,
John Bradshaw
Click to expand...
 
fernfurn said:
Know there must be a million threads on this, but couldnt find anything in a search. Tried a google search and only get the students rights type of site. Can anyone direct me to a previous discussion, or tell me the requirements for letting out rooms in a house to students. Does anyone have ideas of the benefits of providing things like basic furniture and set sheets etc. Realise internet access, common room and locks on doors and smoke alarms mandatory.
Click to expand...
Australian Home Network (AHN) place students with host families. You can register with them. Also they provide insurance for the student/host. Have had a student staying with me for a while through the AHN network and have had no problems. Give it a go check their website for more information.
 
Hi folks,

So I've been looking into a 9 bedder student accom house and getting a bit excited about it. I heard back from Council today and apparently it has not been approved as a boarding house and cannot be approved as it is 200m too far away from a B2 or B4 zoned area which is stipulated in the state legislation as a requirement.

Does this sound right? Others are talking about student accom being an exception to the boarding house regulations in their council areas (this is Newcastle Council btw). I guess I have to take what the council guy said as being right but it's disappointing.

The other part to the question is would you care about having approval as long as it met building codes etc and could be insured? What would council do? He said that the number of rooms/tenants doesn't determine the classification as a boarding house but the fact that there are multiple leases (which I interpret as more than one as it isn't defined) with shared facilities. There are dozens of smaller student accommodation houses in the area that would have individual leases and I've never heard about Council getting cranky at them.
 
Kirsti,

Intentionally break council regulations - risking substantial fines, possible civil legal action, likely voidance of insurances and consequently breach of a primary loan mortgage condition . . . .

Are you totally goddamn mad? :eek:
 
fernfurn said:
Know there must be a million threads on this, but couldnt find anything in a search. Tried a google search and only get the students rights type of site. Can anyone direct me to a previous discussion, or tell me the requirements for letting out rooms in a house to students. Does anyone have ideas of the benefits of providing things like basic furniture and set sheets etc. Realise internet access, common room and locks on doors and smoke alarms mandatory.
Click to expand...

Well, if your student is overseas student, then you will need to put paper advertisement on the University or even Gumtree.

normally they pay cash in hand which is very good and hassle free.
and some of the student are willing to stay in the living room if you provide them with sofa bed and desk for them.

the only downside is that normally they won't stay more than 6 months, one year is long enough for them.

thing to consider:

1. Unlimited internet access
2. separate access key (door)
3. strict house rule to make sure that the room and bathroom is look after properly.

I've been sharing my secondary room many years ago with Chinese student and so far they are went fine. (some of them even refer their friend before they leave).

hope that helps.
 
Well an update a couple of years later......Had problems renewing insurance for 8 unrelated people in a 2 story house, even though we had only made one small claim for water damage. So shopped around quite a bit. Guess what? Suncorp bank.....yep, they were really, really good. I thought they would knock us back for sure, but the girl we got knew her stuff and gave us a good deal. Not the cheapest I must say, but definitely the most thorough, and after tax the difference between Suncorp and the others would be about $500 a year, but for the extra peace of mind (as the mastercard ad goes), priceless. Almost.
But yeah, check out Suncorp for multi-tenanted insurance.
John Bradshaw
 
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