NSW Granny flat approval in 10 days

[lizzie]

looking at the plans - i'd get rid of the kitchen door and have cupboards all the way round (ie, large "pantry wall"), get rid of any semblence of a "dining room" and have an island bench instead, lose the tub in the bathroom (wm/dryer only) and replace it with a ceiling high linen, put the vanity on the bathroom door wall to make it appear more spacious, lose the linen cupbard from the living space, pinch some of the living to make a robe in the 1st bedroom and put a small robe in the 2nd bedroom.

hmmm could work.

 

[MichaelW]

hmmm could work.

Sounds good to me...

Go back to Paal and get them to quote it. Drop the width to 8.5m and apply your mods and get them to call it the Somersoft Granny Flat. Must be 60m2 internal or less. The trick is they're all 7m trusses in the roof, so you can only easily flex the 9m width without compromising their kit principles.

Anyway, $50K odd for a complete kit with full fit-out components included is pretty good going. We factored another $50K in site costs for the platform, sparky and plumber and still had a total cost of $100K that would generate $350pw in rent. Not a bad yield huh! Of course you'd have to double that if you weren't up to building it yourself...

Cheers,
Michael

 

[HappyCamper]

Still trying to get my head around this one. How would this work if both the main residence and granny flat were leased out? If you had a separate meter box for the electricity, would there be two separate accounts with the electricity provider? And could you draw up two lease agreements and do it all through a PM?

 

[Propertunity]

Still trying to get my head around this one.

Get with the program garbage

How would this work if both the main residence and granny flat were leased out?

2 separate leases - unit block owners seem to have managed to get their head around this dilema for years

If you had a separate meter box for the electricity, would there be two separate accounts with the electricity provider?

Yes

And could you draw up two lease agreements and do it all through a PM?

Mmmm I guess - yes

 

[Rockstar]

should be able to do either two boxes with seperate accounts or one box with 2 meters and you choose whether you want seperate accounts or not.

 

[skater]

Still trying to get my head around this one. How would this work if both the main residence and granny flat were leased out? If you had a separate meter box for the electricity, would there be two separate accounts with the electricity provider? And could you draw up two lease agreements and do it all through a PM?

*Sigh* It works just fine. If there are two meters, then of course there would be two electricty accounts, and of course you could draw up two lease agreements. You could even use two different PMs if you wanted to, although I don't know why you would want to.

You just treat the whole thing as if there are two separate dwellings, which, in effect, there is.

 

[Rockstar]

Sounds good to me...

The trick is they're all 7m trusses in the roof, so you can only easily flex the 9m width without compromising their kit principles.

This is what we have unapproved under our home. (currently getting it approved as part of the house by installing an internal staircase) We can rent it out for 300/wk. Maybe now we can build a seperately approved granny flat down the back to give us 2 rentals and a PPOR on the one block!

Close to your dimensions Michael. What do you think?

 

[Rockstar]

Im also very interested in what you find out.

Well I got an answer from the Planning Dept.

We are all trying to get our heads around this new legislation, so hopefully we will have the answers to your questions soon.

Matthew is currently researching the new legislation and will be in touch with you once he's up to speed with it all.

Clear as mud it seems.

Will paste their response once I get it. I also asked whether carports/garages and verandah/decks are included in the 60sqm.

 

[MichaelW]

Maybe now we can build a seperately approved granny flat down the back to give us 2 rentals and a PPOR on the one block!

Close to your dimensions Michael. What do you think?

Rockstar,

Yep, nice design. Very similar to what I was going to put up the back of my North Narrabeen PPOR on the 1600m2 block. Nice landscaped path up to it and you wouldn't even know there was another dwelling up there.

I think you'll find you can only have one "granny flat" per lot whether its attached or detached. So, if you've already got one attached via that staircase addition, then you won't be able to put a second detached one up the back. Its one granny flat per primary dwelling to a max of two per lot. That's my understanding.

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Rockstar]

Yeah I realise that mate. I was gonna shut the door at the top and bottom of the staircase and rent out the downstairs area (which I have done in the past unapproved) which will be approved as part of the main residence. It won't be an approved flat but who's worried about that when you can rake in some extra dough. The downstairs will soon have an approved bar which suffices for a kitchen pretty quickly once you have a plug in bench stove.

 

[luvvit]

Thanks guys

I've also been in contact with my local council to see what their take is on the new Granny Flat legislation... so far I've encountered blank stares, lots of "ummmmm" and a couple of 'I'll get back to you" replies.... so I'll post when I get some info too....

Regards
Luvvit.

 

[HappyCamper]

I've also been in contact with my local council to see what their take is on the new Granny Flat legislation... so far I've encountered blank stares, lots of "ummmmm" and a couple of 'I'll get back to you" replies.... so I'll post when I get some info too....

Would you mind mentioning what councils you have asked? Thanks!

 

[Highlygeared]

Hi Guys,

Would have rented for at least $350-400pw at my PPOR address in North Narrabeen as a separate 2-bed dwelling.

Cheers,
Michael

What's the general concensus on whether for 60 sqm, one should try to cram 2 beds and a smaller living area vs a generous 1 bedder? Which will yield more rent?

More bedrooms normally do but does that still hold water if the living/dining/kitchen area looks a little smaller than is desirable...I think for 60 sqm it won't be a janitor's closet but it may appear overly space efficient?

 

[Rockstar]

Would you mind mentioning what councils you have asked? Thanks!

Byron Bay Shire Council for me Garbage.

 

[Rockstar]

What's the general concensus on whether for 60 sqm, one should try to cram 2 beds and a smaller living area vs a generous 1 bedder? Which will yield more rent?

HG, I have been renting a 60sqm area for nearly 6 years with 7 tenants during that time. Only 2 lots have been couples so a more spacious 1 bedder would have been fine I guess. Saying this, we have carefully screened the applicants because they were living under our PPOR so we were preferring quiet singles. Our last tenant was paying 290/wk.

It probably comes down to where the flat is located and what kind of tenant/s you are trying to attract.

 

[Highlygeared]

HG, I have been renting a 60sqm area for nearly 6 years with 7 tenants during that time. Only 2 lots have been couples so a more spacious 1 bedder would have been fine I guess. Saying this, we have carefully screened the applicants because they were living under our PPOR so we were preferring quiet singles. Our last tenant was paying 290/wk.

It probably comes down to where the flat is located and what kind of tenant/s you are trying to attract.

thanks rockstar, its a leafy family suburb in north west sydney....i'm veering towards 1 bed and singles. they have to share with a family living in a detached 3 bed house. i'd hate to get 2 families on the one lot.

 

[luvvit]

Garbage,

Campbelltown council.....

 

[Pat82]

I am planning to purchase my PPOR (auction in 2 weeks time) and build a granny flat in the backyard. Problem is there are 4 massive trees around the side and back fences. The tree braches drop form time to time and it might demage the granny flat. I am told by a builder that the tree roots will eventually cause structural problems to the granny flat if I choose to build there. It's highly unlikely that council will approve to cut down the trees. My decision to purchase this property will depend on whether I can put a 2 bedder at the backyard.

Is it possible to build close to the trees and then ask council for approval to cut the tress down using the "potential demage to people/property" rule? What other solutions are there?

 

[Propertunity]

It may depend on the particular council. Where I live, if you get a building approval for a dwelling, then you get the right to remove any trees in the buildings footprint with it.

 

[Pat82]

It may depend on the particular council. Where I live, if you get a building approval for a dwelling, then you get the right to remove any trees in the buildings footprint with it.

It's City of Ryde council. Are they easy to work with? Anyone had any problems with Ryde council?