Land Sloping away from the road. Yay or Nay??

[mumbai]

One of the agents called me regarding a property in Cambridge park. It is a BV 3 bedder house on a 600+sqm land. But the only issue is the land sloping to the back.

Based on what I have read so far on SS, members do not prefer it. Can someone provide me cons of this? Should I just shy away from it or use it as a negotiation tool?

I have attached some images to give a fair idea. The second pic (arrow) shows the back fence from an adjoining street.

 

[RPI]

It depends on stormwater disposal. if there is no main running across the back then you either need to do a rubble pit or put a pipe through your neighbour's yard. Many councils no longer allow a rubble pit. Last couple of pipes that my clients have had to put through neighbours yards have been in the $3k-$5k range. Both been 150mm pipes but one had a lot of hand digging in it.

 

[oc1]

Remember if it's steep it's cheap.

If you develop multiple dwellings the stormwater for that type of development would generally be in excess of $10k. Lots of variables though eg distance to connection point, size of pipe, type of pipe, type of soil, neighbour sheds or trees in the way etc etc

 

[mflying]

One of the agents called me regarding a property in Cambridge park. It is a BV 3 bedder house on a 600+sqm land. But the only issue is the land sloping to the back.

Based on what I have read so far on SS, members do not prefer it. Can someone provide me cons of this? Should I just shy away from it or use it as a negotiation tool?

I have attached some images to give a fair idea. The second pic (arrow) shows the back fence from an adjoining street.

it really depends on what you are intend to develop.

600 sq meter in Cambridge park is only viable for GF development. you may be able to get away with rubble pit or charged line (check with brazen, i am no expert on this)

 

[albanga]

I am currently developing on a sloping block to the rear and as others have suggested the storm water is the biggest hurdle thus far. My block has no pipe in the rear easement so I have been required to pump the water uphill to the curb. At this stage I do not have a formal quote but I have been advised by a few people to prepare myself for anything from 8-30k!!

That being said a sloping block such as this can be developed cleverly. We have a few in the neigborhood and the slope has been utilized to build in underground garage. I went through an open the other day with this and it was absolutely amazing! Also it depends on the soil and the foundation required but the slope can also be utilized for under house storage. My current development has i think about 1.4m height and goes back a few meters so there is going to be great storage and should remove the need for a shed.

 

[knightm]

My block has no pipe in the rear easement so I have been required to pump the water uphill to the curb. At this stage I do not have a formal quote but I have been advised by a few people to prepare myself for anything from 8-30k!!

The big issue with this is that some councils won't allow pump out systems (along with their expense as albanga says).

Charged systems only really work when the slope is gentle.

I don't have much experience with rubble pits on steep sites so can't comment.

 

[mflying]

I am currently developing on a sloping block to the rear and as others have suggested the storm water is the biggest hurdle thus far. My block has no pipe in the rear easement so I have been required to pump the water uphill to the curb. At this stage I do not have a formal quote but I have been advised by a few people to prepare myself for anything from 8-30k!!

That being said a sloping block such as this can be developed cleverly. We have a few in the neigborhood and the slope has been utilized to build in underground garage. I went through an open the other day with this and it was absolutely amazing! Also it depends on the soil and the foundation required but the slope can also be utilized for under house storage. My current development has i think about 1.4m height and goes back a few meters so there is going to be great storage and should remove the need for a shed.

Dual pump (fail safe with control panel) will cost $2400 each
+ installation cost
+ pipes
+ pits

Retaining walls

So cost will be around 15k++ ..If council allows pump out

 

[albanga]

Dual pump (fail safe with control panel) will cost $2400 each
+ installation cost
+ pipes
+ pits

Retaining walls

So cost will be around 15k++ ..If council allows pump out

Hey mflying, 15k seems to be the mark most people have advised. My draftsmen said 8k as he knew someone who did a job, whilst a couple of others including a mate who had to do something similar have said 30k. Most others seem to think 15k is the sweet spot. I will definitely post the quotes once they come in.

Just on the storm water I recently posted into the "adding value" forum for those interested to read more (http://somersoft.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99907).

But in summarising, I have no storm water in the easement and after lengthy conversations and raising a number of suggestions (rubble pits, connecting to rear neighbor.etc) council basically said, your only option is to terminate at a council approved point which for me is the uphill curb which is why in their own words "A pumping system is our preferred and your only real option".

They did make mention of a storm water connection 187 meters from my property but to connect to this would require me to go through the easement of 13 properties to which I as the developer would need to cover the cost. As much as I do not want a pump system (maintenance issue waiting to happen!) it actually sounds more enticing than convincing 13 neighbors having me dig up there backyard is a good thing. Mind you most of my neighbors are old and have probably never been concerned with storm water so not sure why they would be now.

My development is still a while off but I will definitely make a post about the challenges and hopefully some benefits off building on a slope

 

[mumbai]

So, I take that until I am getting a 'good' discount, I should not buy the property!

 

[albanga]

So, I take that until I am getting a 'good' discount, I should not buy the property!

No this is not necessarily true, it really depends on what you are planning to do. As i said, I have seen many great developments which have utilised a sloping block brilliantly. The natural fall means there is not as much excavation required to build underground. Essentially the natural fall allows the homes to be triple story's but they are infact not towering monsters, overshadowing the entire neighborhood because the ground floor appears to be underground.

Also in my scenario there is no storm water, but that is not to say the block you are considering does not have this. You should always contact the council and perform due diligence when buying a property (Rich coming from me i know but I was dumb and naive when i started and didn't have the wonderful people at somersoft back then ). You may be lucky and have storm water so connecting to this will cost you hardly anything.