Building a Granny Flat

I met with some people today who gave me a run down of things to expect

1. Electricity, they can have Integral directly connect to the granny flat, so the person occupying the granny flat will have their own bill.

Alternatively I can connect the power through the existing house and have a separate meter, though that would mean one bill and that bill would most likely be in my name and I would need to separate it by checking the readings.

Option 1 is my preferred option as i intend to rent both out to separate people.
Option 2 would only be preferred if i was living in one of them (which at this stage I have no intention of doing).

2. Water, separate meter can be installed, but still only on bill.

This is better anyway as water has always been in my name and I am responsible for paying for the connection (~$140 pq) and the agent sends the usage portion to the individual.

The separate meter can then tell me how much each house used. I can get the Real estate agent to work out and bill the individual for the usage.

3. Home Phone - Can get an existing cable laid between the two houses. Though my preference is to pay Telstra the $250 or so and have an individual line installed to the granny flat (makes splitting of bills easier, and removes any future issues of ADSL2+ not working properly due to a poor line etc).

4. Gas - Existing house doesnt have gas. I want gas in the granny flat. They will arrange for AGL to install the gas pipe.

Thats it so far, ill keep posting as I find out more :)
 
Nek

Re electricity option 2, I was under the impression if you got a seperate meter installed this would allow you to have 2 x seperate bills??

Does anybody know for sure if Energy Aust and Integarl are different and how easy is it change.... pretty straight forward I would have thought!!
 
ritchie77 said:
Nek

Re electricity option 2, I was under the impression if you got a seperate meter installed this would allow you to have 2 x seperate bills??

Does anybody know for sure if Energy Aust and Integarl are different and how easy is it change.... pretty straight forward I would have thought!!
Click to expand...

not sure, this is what i was told today. I'll need to do some investigation myself i guess.
 
From a renters prespective, if two houses with the exact same layout

1. Brick external, but slightly smaller internal
2. Cladding external, slightly bigger internal

All fittings identical, which one would fetch the most rent?
 
neK said:
From a renters prespective, if two houses with the exact same layout

1. Brick external, but slightly smaller internal
2. Cladding external, slightly bigger internal

All fittings identical, which one would fetch the most rent?
Click to expand...
I like the idea of Brick externals - gives a more permanent feel. Adds to its character. And from a future sale point it will keep its value. I know it costs 5K more, but probably if you could jack up the rent for an extra $10 per week (say 230 instead of 220) you are CF positive even at 7% cost of funds....
 
Yea i like brick too, except what i dont like is that if you use brick they count the edge of the brick when measuring the 60sqm (ie 250mm wall thickness).

Whereas if I use cladding they count from the timber frame (ie 100mm wall thickness).

This means on a bedroom that is 3m x 3.3m, its now reduced to 2.85m x 3.15m. While this sounds like peanuts on a drawing, walking into display homes where the room width is 2.85m vs 3m the difference seems huge.

If its $10 difference in rent, then i think ill stick with cladding. Its an investment property after all. Seeing it will be positively geared (hopefully) once the granny flat is done, I have no intention of selling it.
 
Purple said:
will it has enough electricity to run 2 properties?
Click to expand...

huh?
I dont understand what you mean by that.

Properties dont get an allocation of electricity. You just pay for what you use. Why wouldnt there be enough electricity to run 2 properties?
 
battler said:
There may not be enough capacity in the mains coming from the street to service the damand of the second dwelling.
Click to expand...

hmmm interesting, never realised that.

So wouldnt all new properties (eg knock down rebuilds) and extensions to existing properties face the same problem then?

How do i check?
 
When you refer to mains are you referring to

Street (Telegraph pol) ----> House (Mains)

Because if thats the case

1. The house has got 3 phase power already

2. I intend on putting on a new separate electricity meter for the granny flat (so that the prospective tenant can call Integral Energy and get their own power connected).
 
If it's got three phase already on a conventional residential dwelling, I would think you would be OK,.......check with your sparkie though.
 
I've been thinking. I need to build a new garage on the place Ive just purchased. (Still waiting on settlement). Its a 3 bed house on a block with rear lane access. Was thinking a single garage and maybe attached granny flat at rear. Would I need to provide off street parking for the house if granny flat had the garage? Technically its not really 2 dwellings right?

How would one go about finding out if this could be done? i have no experience with this kind of thing as my two properties in Syd are apartment and townhouse and only done minor reno before.

What would be budget for maybe granny flat like a "studio' type arrangement and single garage?
 
Extra parking - You do not need to provide an additional parking space as its a granny flat.

The garage will most likely require DA approval. The granny flat requires only a private certifier and takes about 10 days.

A granny flat joined with a garage = one dwelling. Therefore the garage + granny flat must not be greater than 60sqm.

However if you keep them separate from each other, the granny flat can be 60sqm, the garage is whatever size you like pending DA approval.

Personally i reckon if you're going to build a granny flat, build it as big as you can to maximise rent.

Right now im trying to figure out whether to join the granny flat to an existing garage. The guy has told me the biggest issue is convincing the certifier that its TWO dwellings and that the garage is not going to be converted into a room.

Also the common walls must be fire rated (more $$$ required),
 
Last edited:
No im still waiting.
They were waiting on me to decide which way i wanted to go.

Ive asked them for pricing on both.
 
neK said:
The garage will most likely require DA approval. The granny flat requires only a private certifier and takes about 10 days.

A granny flat joined with a garage = one dwelling. Therefore the garage + granny flat must not be greater than 60sqm.


Right now im trying to figure out whether to join the granny flat to an existing garage. The guy has told me the biggest issue is convincing the certifier that its TWO dwellings and that the garage is not going to be converted into a room.

Also the common walls must be fire rated (more $$$ required),
Click to expand...

hmm..no

You CAN have the granny flat 'touching' the garage. Whoever told you that should study the SEPP and the BCA (Volume 1).

The BCA sees them as one structure.
The SEPP sees them as 2 structures. So you can indeed 'touch' the GF with the garage (or any other structure).


If the granny flat/garage are 900mm (or more) from EITHER the house OR the boundary, you dont need a fire rated wall (60/60/60).

So if the GF/Garage combination are say, 400mm from the house but 900mm from the boundary, you dont need to do anything.

If the GF/Garage is within 900mm of the house AND the boundary, you'll need a fire-rated wall. Only that part of the building which is inside this barrier needs a fire-rated wall.

If there is a breach of Part 3.7.1 of the BCA as it relates to Fire-Separation, you'll need a fire-rated wall, but only at the part of the building that breaches it. The cost isnt huge.
Boral, James Hardie and other companies sell these at a reasonable price- theyre just thick plasterboard with a steel outer lining.

http://grannyflatapprovals.com.au/


Brazen.
 
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