Council approval for downstairs rooms

[serendip]

This is probably a silly question but anyway....

I am looking at a house currently which has an unapproved granny flat downstairs. I don't want a granny flat so not bothered it's not approved, I'm happy to re-purpose the rooms as long as the rooms themselves are compliant / approved. From the outside the area downstairs does not appear to have been built in after the original building, but as there is not currently an internal staircase I'm concerned it may have been. There's also been a deck & additional room added to the top floor.

So, my question is how I go about ensuring what is existing has the required approvals / complies with building code? Is a call to the council the best way? If it is not approved should I run or is it possible to get the required approvals after the fact? (with the appropriately discounted buy price!)

I've asked for a contract which I'm waiting on & the agent says the current owner bought the house with the current floor plan & acknowledges the flat is not approved. I didn't specifically ask if the rooms were approved & don't want to trust the agent anyway!

 

[RetireRich101]

I find most council give a blind eye if you are to call and ask what is/isn't approved.
They only take action when you're the immediate neighbor and you want to make a complaint. Asking how many bedrooms was the original plan or any extension/addition would be appropriate.

If the information is not readily available at Council database, you can fill in a form (billable) to request archive information on the approval and plans if they're available. Not sure this meet your deadline for the purchase though.

Your bottom line risk profile is that you're OK to put $$ to convert back to original. Why not continue to rent as dual living (leverage renting the downstairs studio separately or dual living tenancy) until it becomes a council issue.

 

[serendip]

Renting out downstairs was my original intention but I'm concerned that it is not compliant for the fire regulations. My understanding is that, if something did happen, insurance would be invalid and that doesn't fit my risk profile.

In addition, it occurred to me that because of the area & median house values for 3 & 4 bedroom houses, I could add more value by converting it to a 4bedroom house, reval, extract equity & go again.

 

[RetireRich101]

if this is risk profile, then you set it correctly...

just be mindful on some bank valuation on initial purchase. The bank valuer might not put any value on the unapproved granny flat.

 

[serendip]

if this is risk profile, then you set it correctly...

just be mindful on some bank valuation on initial purchase. The bank valuer might not put any value on the unapproved granny flat.

good point, thank you for your thoughts I think it has potential but the issues are obviously putting people off so with a bit of a luck I have time to work through it without pressure!