Narrow Granny Flat Design

[divine]

Hi All,

I would really appreciate any help or opinion on this.

I have this 17m wide block in NSW with the main residence right in the middle. Ideally I'll like to knock down the main residence and build new + granny flat which will be really easy to design. However, financially, it is not possible to do so. Which mean I'll have to build the granny flat and main resident separately one after another.

Apologize for the bad drawing, but is there anyway to make a granny flat design work with just a 5m width to work on? I notice a lot of inner city terrace are even tighter in width, but they are mostly (if not all) 2 storeys. Bare in mind I will knock down the main resident in the near future too, but I do need occupancy certificate so I can stay there while the main resident is being built.

To make things more interesting, there is an existing bath/laundry that is still in good condition that I would like to keep to save cost.

It is still in the very early stage of planning for me so I'm trying out some ideas before deciding on the best way to approach this.

Thanks.

 

[westminster]

So you want to convert the garage to a GF?

Or do you want to make it bigger?

If it complies under the conversion codes - I'm not up on the NSW SEPP codes - but talk to Brazen or NHG etc.

Anyway if it does comply then you could just kit out that big section into a studio style GF and then I'd tack on a nice pergola at the front to give outdoor entertaining

That would be your cheapest option

 

[westminster]

If you want to make it bigger then you go L shape and add a bedroom out the LHS of the bathroom and put the living in the current garage bit

 

[divine]

Thanks for the reply. I want to make it bigger. 60m2 if possible. Is it allowable to extend the granny flat later after I rebuilt the main resident on a different spot?

If there is a way to make it work with a division/fence in the middle, I think it will be better for both dwellings. If not, then yeah, maybe L shape would work.

 

[neK]

Work backwards.

1. What date will the knock down rebuild house be completed.
2. What are the dimensions of this house
3. Where does the granny flat need to be placed for this occur

Once you have those figured out then
- Is moving the existing house to where the new house is going to be an option
- If yes, build the granny flat in a manner as if the new house is present.

I'm not sure how long approvals last, but depending on how serious you are about the knock down rebuild, I would get approval for both new house and granny flat to built, then build one at at time.

I think it is a waste of money to build a narrow granny flat that looks crap and its crappiness is accentuated by a newer built house right next to it in the future.

 

[nhg]

Hey,

As NEK mentioned above. Don't look at what you have now just yet, look at what you will have and how to make it work from there.

I'm in a similar boat. Looking at another GF but I have a large block in the back but it will be tight between the back fence and easement down the middle.

At this time I will try to keep the existing 60sqm shed that is on the site which I've decided I won't turn into a granny flat.

 

[divine]

Work backwards.

1. What date will the knock down rebuild house be completed.
2. What are the dimensions of this house
3. Where does the granny flat need to be placed for this occur

Once you have those figured out then
- Is moving the existing house to where the new house is going to be an option
- If yes, build the granny flat in a manner as if the new house is present.

I'm not sure how long approvals last, but depending on how serious you are about the knock down rebuild, I would get approval for both new house and granny flat to built, then build one at at time.

I think it is a waste of money to build a narrow granny flat that looks crap and its crappiness is accentuated by a newer built house right next to it in the future.

Thanks. I'll need to decide on the design before I know the cost. Only then, I can work on my finances and have the date and plan for the end product. At least to me, I have no idea how to work backwards from this.

Moving the existing house sounds like the best solution, if that is possible. Its an old fibro built on top of bricks, I suppose I need to get someone in to know if that is possible right?

Also, any suggestion on who should I be looking for? Searching house relocation, house moving, house removal doesn't give me the result I am looking for in Sydney (north shore). Do I look for people who restump and raise house? Or is there a term to search for.

Thanks for the patient, I am totally new to this. I only did renovation with zero structural changes before this.

 

[nhg]

Thanks. I'll need to decide on the design before I know the cost. Only then, I can work on my finances and have the date and plan for the end product. At least to me, I have no idea how to work backwards from this.

Moving the existing house sounds like the best solution, if that is possible. Its an old fibro built on top of bricks, I suppose I need to get someone in to know if that is possible right?

Also, any suggestion on who should I be looking for? Searching house relocation, house moving, house removal doesn't give me the result I am looking for in Sydney (lower north shore). Do I look for people who restump and raise house? Or is there a term to search for.

Thanks for the patient, I am totally new to this. I only did renovation with zero structural changes before this.

Sorry I may have misunderstood.

Move your house? Weren't you going to demolish it? Why spend money and then demolish it?

I couldn't tell which side was street side from your drawing, it doesn't seem you have enough room to build a granny flat unless you demolish or as you stated, move the house first (again, why spend the money and not just wait till you can spend the funds).

You need to keep 3m from the back fence and 900mm from side from memory.
You can get closer with fire proof walls etc, but not worth the cost if you can get away with it.

Also doubtful you can build a 'secondary dwelling' without a primary first. Hmm. I guess moving and keeping the main house is the solution, I just hate double handling.

Maybe try a house-raising mob as you mentioned:
http://www.yellowpages.com.au/find/house-restumping-reblocking-or-raising/sydney-cbd-nsw

Make sure you mention there is asbestos.

 

[divine]

Sorry I may have misunderstood.

Move your house? Weren't you going to demolish it? Why spend money and then demolish it?

I couldn't tell which side was street side from your drawing, it doesn't seem you have enough room to build a granny flat unless you demolish or as you stated, move the house first (again, why spend the money and not just wait till you can spend the funds).

You need to keep 3m from the back fence and 900mm from side from memory.
You can get closer with fire proof walls etc, but not worth the cost if you can get away with it.

Also doubtful you can build a 'secondary dwelling' without a primary first. Hmm. I guess moving and keeping the main house is the solution, I just hate double handling.

Maybe try a house-raising mob as you mentioned:
http://www.yellowpages.com.au/find/house-restumping-reblocking-or-raising/sydney-cbd-nsw

Make sure you mention there is asbestos.

Road is at the bottom of the diagram, plenty of front boundary not shown in the diagram.

I know it sounds silly to do it twice but I don't yet know when I would be able to afford demolishing and rebuild. If I can raise and move, then there is the option to delay the demolish and rebuild by another 5 years. Less stressful and we can afford to have a baby.

 

[nhg]

Best talk to an architect,

Ashwin Kumar is my guy.
0418752154

To be comfortable you'll want to leave at least 10m from your back fence to the location of your new place. 3m between houses, 3m for house width, 3m from back fence.

This is very general advice, you'll be best to speak with the architect for more ideas, or if you're anywhere near Hornsby I can drop by and have a chat from my own experience (no solicitation on my end, I get a lot of free advice in person from Somersoft peeps so I like to give it out too).