narrow block- clever build ideas

[Tano]

Does anyone have any ideas on how to maximse the use of a narrow block. I have purchased a R40 corner block with a house in the middle and i have about 11m width piece of land running either side of the house. I think i need 1.5m boundary setback each side= 7m wide house. How can i squeeze in 2 builds around this house?

Here are some of my ideas

• Parapet Walls
• Build under eaves
• No Eaves
• 2 Storey
• Build front door on side of house 1 -> else it will look out of place with the garage being 80% of the 10m frontage.
• Single door garage with one car behind another car (long way)

Is the parapet wall only for garages or can i run it up the whole length of house 1? (25m boundary)

Is the boundary setbacks from the eaves or brickwork?. If from eaves then i will build them with no eaves. Or is there something i am missing?

Attached is a sketch i drew. I dont even know if i can legally do what i have drawn. There is 7.3m from back of house to boundary, and 5m from front of house to boundary. Either side of house there is ~ 10m

 

[moyjos]

I am not familiar with the building companies in Perth, but here in the East we have for example, Dixon homes. On their website you can put in what width your block is and it will show a heap of plans.

Try www.dixonHomes.com.au. Pick a state and area and the next page you will be able to choose land size.

Have fun.

 

[lizzie]

This isn't quite 7m but is double garage and will try to find who built it (kept file from many many moons ago) ... perhaps look at terraces for layouts as they are generally anything from 5m wide. We did have plans drawn up for a 7m wide house (8m wide block) but they are on my old computer ... will see if it still works

 

[HD_ACE]

I think some builders in perth have plans for 6m wide lots.

What are the positions of the roads? i am assuming accross the bottom and up the right hand side judging by that trunction?

If that is the case then i think you will have a problem because of the minimum setback from that bottom road. depending where it is could be a 4m setback.

Where are the powerlines this could increase the setbacks to 6 or 8m i believe.

cheers

 

[Tano]

correct, Roads are bottom and up the right hand side.

The bottom road will be the secondary boundary and should only need 1m setback. The right hand side will be the primary which is 4m setback (which i have drawn in). Hope this is the correct way to draw it. Where can i find information about the powerlines set back?

 

[Shahin_Afarin]

I have a client that is building 2 x 3 storey homes with a swimming pool in the back of one of the homes all on a massive 280sqm of land with a 6 metre frontage!

 

[Aaron Sice]

Tano - honestly, just call me, can answer all your q's in one hit.

zero 4 two 3 nine 7 two 3 five 9.

anytime over the weekend.

I can see a very real possibility for putting 2 more homes on this. Will require a few encroachment easements etc for the existing eaves, but I think the biggest issue will be parking for the front home.

call Stuart @ Vision Surveys or Joel @ The Land Division for a full contour and feature survey as soon as possible.

designs like this are much cheaper than your dad's, if that's your concern.

 

[westminster]

Ok.

Does this house have a garage on one side? I think you are going to need to knock that down to give you some building space.

R30 or R40?

I need to note something below in no particular order

1. secondary boundary - you can't build a parapet up to it. So you have your set back then fence then side boundary then house.
2. Parapet/zero lot wall can extend further than garage but is not allowed to be more than 2/3 of the boundary AFTER the set back. Ie if set back is 5m and there is total 20 boundary it is (25-5) x 2/3 which is 13.2
3. Your original house doesn't have parapet walls so you need to allow 1.5 (R30) or 1.0 (R40) all the way around it.
4. Yes you can do like your drawing where you go behind the original house providing that the original house still has a courtyard available to it - you might get away with the a fenced courtyard at the front.
5. We don't have powerline setback unless it's those massive giant monster pylons.
6. Effectively with the 10m you are left with 8.5 width to build if you go zero lot to zero lot for some of it. This is doable - squeaky narrow - but doable with a single storey design.

 

[westminster]

Most importantly I would recommend getting your survey done now - every centimetre is going to count with working out the options. $1000 and you know exactly all the areas of the existing house and around it.

For a little inspiration there are a few builders who have 10m designs which can look at to get some ideas. Often their 10m designs are for 10m block so allow for 1m side boundaries and the designs are only 8-9m wide.

http://www.easystarthomes.com.au/property/62/nusa-dua.html

http://www.domain-homes.com.au/single-storey-homes/10m-wide-range

http://www.celebrationhomes.com.au/10-metre-wide-home-designs

http://wa.homebuyers.com.au/home-finder/43


If you go single garage - or tandem single then your options are much bigger

 

[Tano]

Thanks everyone. You are all very helpful and friendly. I learned alot from Westminster (myf) as always.

This is R20 (will be R40 in a few months) and there is a garage at the back (depicted in silver) that will be removed. There is atleast 5m in front of existing house for courtyard/driveway. I am not sure of the rules if the car spaces will fit but i will call Aaron tommorow. If theres not enough room then i am hoping the front verandah or back verandah will do as open space.

note: This is confusing since this front of the house faces down (on the PDF -post 1) with the primary street at the bottom. The primary and secondary will have to be swapped to fit on 2 houses.

 

[westminster]

R40 is good. That means 1m side setbacks not 1.5 Every centimetre is your friend

You might end up with a rear garage (off new secondary) on the truncated block so that the driveway isn't too close to the corner.

 

[wylie]

If you had the current house removed (or even moved on the block) would that give you more scope to build one or two more houses without compromising on how they will look.

There is a house in my street that is built on the skinniest block I've ever seen. It is less than half of the same looking block you have drawn, even has the truncated corner. I've not met anybody who likes it, and I reckon it would struggle to sell. People spend most of their time (when this house comes up in conversation) wondering about the layout (one narrow room wide). I reckon the block cannot be more than 6m wide (but I've never measured it).

I'm just thinking that rather than build around this house and have two skinny houses either side that may always rent well but might give you grief if you ever come to sell them, you could move (or remove) the house that is there and plan things better.

 

[Tano]

I can remove the laundry (room on rear verandah photo) which will give me 13m but i think council regulations still require the boundary fence 2m from back door. If i leave the verandah there i can put the fence adjoining the verandah boundary (i think)

 

[Aaron Sice]

if the wall has no major openings (windows or doors to bedrooms or living rooms) you can do 1m regardless of length. on new builds its <9m, but established you're generally allowed to stretch the rules.

just remember to leave 3.4m width for a single garage (total incl walls) 1.0m for a min setback, 1.1m for an entry and about 0.7m for external and internal Walls inclusive.

what's left is your room size facing the front. if you can get this over 2.5m ish, then you can get a pretty standard design on.

if not, just stick a meals or living room to the front with some kind of front courtyard (if it has a northerly ish aspect) and make good use of the front setback area and save that space.

these blocks are damn fun to work with from a design point of view. I cut my teeth on this stuff and 12 years later I'm still refining my skillz, yo.

and yes, I think you can put a fence at the verandah boundary. worst case scenario, just build a parapet to enclose it.