Advice on property subdivision.

[kristy77]

Just found a house that is ready to rent out and potential to subdivide. If I got council approval (by the way how do you do this?) and was able to subdivide, could this be a good idea? What I would plan to do with this property would be to subdivide and then sell that land when prices rise.
What are people's thoughts on this?

Kristy

 

[nats12]

how deep are your pockets.

subdividing a backyard off can be an expensive experience depending on the council.

usually to get clear title for the back block to sell it off you will have to put in stormwater drainage, connect the water, electricity, sewer and gas down the drive to the back lot, and also lay a driveway.

this can cost anywhere up to $30k or more depending on the size of the block and where everything existing is.

on top of that, you may have to do some site clearing, survey, arborist report, plus permit costs and so on.

not all councils have these requirements and it all does depend on the block of land, where it is, and the complexities of what you are asking for.

 

[lizzie]

the process is:

talk to council and see what their subdivision requirements are for that particular address. each council is different so don't go by what anyone else says - talk to those with the info. examples of things you need to know are minimum block size you're allowed, minimum driveway width and minimum street frontage to allow subdivision (our area won't allow subdivision if street frontage less than 15m for the front block).

once you have a very clear picture of what council will allow (and it is allowable) talk to a surveyor. they will survey the property and draw up the plans for subidivision - including plans of installation of utilities.

you then have to submit da application to council and wait for approval.

then you have to contract out the utilities work (sewer, electicity, water etc). the sewer is the big one. for torrens title (which is what you want) only a mains pipe is allowed to cross a property - you can't have your personal sewer pipe cross another property to join into the mains. this means you may have to have the mains extended onto the second block (whether it be the front or back, depending on where the mains currently runs) and can be expensive.

once all work is done, utilities in, fence errected and signed off by council as complete, you then need to submit to the lands titles office for registration - your surveyor can do this for you. and again, you wait. once approval is given from lands titles (which can take several months) the you are free to sell.

it is a long process, with fees every step of the way - but - we have done three such subdivisions and they have all made us a tidy profit. this is not to say that "every" subdivision will make you a profit - you need to look at the selling value after completion, the cost of subdivision and initial purchase price, then do the numbers.

a rough guide of around $30-40k is about right - depending on how far the utilities have to run from their present position - might be less, might be more.

oh - and don't forget to get phone cabling put in the ground while trenches are open.

hope this helps

 

[steveadl]

Hi Lizzie, I'm not looking at this for a while, but would the cost and process you mentioned above be similar for a block I want to develop in the future?

The block is 18.3m frontage, 45m depth. There is an existing house which I want to remove and build a duplex on (ie. both with street frontage). I checked with council and they require 10m frontage per house to subdivide, so they suggested duplex instead.

 

[WBG Redcliffe]

may help

The project is a spliter sliding existing dwelling over and moving a free house onto new block, both are currently 2br that will be change to 3br and both will be raised to 2.4m. Councils are BCC and RCC. The fees below are to date only.

Gives you a bit of an idea of what is involved.

Regards Wayne

Pest Insp Redcliffe $220.00
Building Insp Redcliffe $190.00
Pest Insp Bald Hills $190.00
Build Insp Bald Hills $190.00
Town Planner - Ian $1,430.00
BCC - application fee $1,480.00
Draftsman - Doug $2,926.00
Certifier - Bill $400.00
- Lodgement fee RCC $80.00
- Site Information RCC $42.00
- Land Title Search $22.00
- Sewerage seal $449.00
- Facility fee $50.00
Soil test - Bald Hills $550.00
Insurance $450.00
Remove house 2 to holding yard $5000.00
Tree removal $670.00
BCC - headworks/parks contribution $14016.00
BCC - sewer & water design quotes $1130.00
BCC - relaxation fee
Surveyor - Keith
Water Connection
Sewer Connection
Dept natural resources registration
Electricity connection
Telephone connection

TOTAL to date $29,485

 

[steveadl]

Thanks WBG, does give me more of an idea.

I guess the cost I'm most worried about is the sewerage/water and gas pipes etc. Although I guess in the long run they won't seem so much as I have the cost of 2 new houses to put on the block as well

 

[lizzie]

I checked with council and they require 10m frontage per house to subdivide, so they suggested duplex instead.

sorry - i was thinking more along the lines of one at the front and one at the back. you may be looking at a strata title subdivision instead of torrens ... i only know torrens but maybe someone else can help you with the strata.

also, do a search on "strata" throughout ss to find out exactly what the differences between torren and strata are.

 

[Cherry Pro]

excuse my ignorance but can someone help with the difference
in strata and torrens titles please. I know units in a building are on a
strata title ... does a free standing house then comprise torrens title ?

Thanks

 

[aaarghhh]

Town Planner - Ian $1,430.00

Is that Ian Buchannan?