Highset QLD not legal height !

[bornfree]

Hi all, if a highset has a granny flat downstairs but under legal height, I rent out both levels to different tenants, what are the bad implications. I've been talking to agent & insurance co, my head is spinning. Different people say different things. Some say the tenants may dob you in to the council, some say insurance won't pay if there is a fire etc etc. If anyone rents out a property to 2 lots of tenant, legal height or not, much appreciate your experience and opinion.
ps. do highsets legal height downstairs sell for a premium ?

 

[wylie]

Listen to the insurer as they are the ones who can make your life a misery should you need to make a claim. You don't want them wiping you because you listened to an agent who got it wrong. If you find an insurer who allows you to rent a granny flat separately that is not legal head height make sure you get it in writing and keep that document very safe.

We have friends who used to live in our street in a three bedroom house that had laundry, study, garage, living room and a store room downstairs. Had they stayed, and not added the fourth bedroom upstairs, the older kids would by now probably have moved to the two rooms downstairs.

The head height is short of legal by about ten centimetres. It feels a little low, but certainly is livable. They used the living room downstairs all the time as a family TV room. However, to rent such a space saparately would (in my opinion) be illegal. The "bedrooms" are called "store rooms" they are not considered legally to be a bedroom because they don't have legal head height.

They had tenants who were two families..... two sisters, each with a few children rented the house as a whole and one sister and her children slept downstairs (kitchen was upstairs) while the other sister and her children slept upstairs.

I think this was acceptable only because it was rented as ONE HOUSE. I don't think the agent would have been able to rent the downstairs separately due to the head height, even if it had a kitchen.

Legal head height is worth money. A house short of legal will always (generally) get less because anyone wanting to build into the downstairs is up for around $30K or whatever it is to raise or dig out.

 

[craigb]

when people do the wrong thing they should accept the consequences, if you are aware its the wrong height , you should not be letting it, But for me i always do the right thing so i can sleep at night , if you are bending the system that creats you money then you might as well be selling drugs, the money is better and in my eyes they are both illegal, but that just my take on it.

the challange is to create wealth the legal way , the other way is not a challange its like cheating at golf , why bother playing to better your game . you could bend the rules just a bit and say your a pro after the first game , not much fun at all.

 

[MTR]

Hi all, if a highset has a granny flat downstairs but under legal height, I rent out both levels to different tenants, what are the bad implications. I've been talking to agent & insurance co, my head is spinning. Different people say different things. Some say the tenants may dob you in to the council, some say insurance won't pay if there is a fire etc etc. If anyone rents out a property to 2 lots of tenant, legal height or not, much appreciate your experience and opinion.
ps. do highsets legal height downstairs sell for a premium ?

Hi Bornfree
my understanding is that there are not too many that are actually legal height/council approved.

I was told by a RE agent that investors buy these properties all the time for income and that Suncorp insures, but of course you need to disclose dual occupancy.

Cheers, MTR

 

[willair]

Hi all, if a highset has a granny flat downstairs but under legal height, I rent out both levels to different tenants, what are the bad implications. I've been talking to agent & insurance co, my head is spinning. Different people say different things. Some say the tenants may dob you in to the council, some say insurance won't pay if there is a fire etc etc. If anyone rents out a property to 2 lots of tenant, legal height or not, much appreciate your experience and opinion.
ps. do highsets legal height downstairs sell for a premium ?

If you intend to go down this road,just think about a few other items the water-elec's-gas if it's all on one line, then you have to work out how to split the bills can cause problems for you and the tenants from my small experience,are there fire walls in place,if one section burns down, insurance will be a problem,the first step is ring up the BCC, and ask the question,don't be led up the garden path by what anything any R-E-A,tells you."fire"???
MOST WOULD NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT A FIRE RATED WALL IS,but start with the council first,they get very interested in properties that are set up this way in Brisbane,the numbers allways look good on these deals till you ring up the insurance-BCC-and then the numbers get blown out the back door real fast..imho..willair..

 

[josko]

Hi bornfree,

MTR is correct. Many high set houses in QLD have rooms built in underneath that are not legal height.

When buying houses in Queensland, some 2BR's can be 3BR's but because the built-in is not of legal height the agent cannot advertise it as such.

I once let a fantastic oppportunity for positively-geared go because the 2BR dwelling under was not of legal height and I didn't like my chances with insurance.

You have a choice here to take an educated risk. The choice is yours.

Regards JO

 

[bornfree]

Thank you all for the advises. I am not deliberately buying highsets with under legal height, just would like to get some honest opinion from my fellow SSers rather than the selling agents. Once again thanks.