Turning garage into separate dwelling

[Ellmay]

Hi,

I was just wanting to get everyone's opinions on turning a garage (that's attached to the house) into a self contained studio on one of my IP's? I'm looking to create some more cash flow from this property and the land size (430sqm) is far too small to add a granny flat. Just trying to come up with some solutions. I would add a carport (or area to park) to replace where they once put their car. The property is in a low socio economic area so so my concerns were that there could be some issues with two sets of tennants living on the same small block with a shared wall and driveway.
Any advice would be much appreciated

 

[Ellmay]

Picture of house/garage here:
http://postimg.org/image/lfh0eqbfr/

 

[DaveM]

if its just a single garage sized room thats going to be a really tiny space once you take out room for a bathroom and kitchen

 

[Player]

Rather than add a separate habitable dwelling in such a small space and dealing with the dual tenant issues and sharing, if the garage has internal access to the main residence then it is a cheap way of adding another bedroom (perhaps ensuited).......... assumes internal height allow for a habitable room. Increases both rent and value for not a lot of outlay

 

[Ellmay]

if its just a single garage sized room thats going to be a really tiny space once you take out room for a bathroom and kitchen

It's just a single garage yes. It would be very small but I've seen small spaces done quite well.

 

[Ellmay]

Rather than add a separate habitable dwelling in such a small space and dealing with the dual tenant issues and sharing, if the garage has internal access to the main residence then it is a cheap way of adding another bedroom (perhaps ensuited).......... assumes internal height allow for a habitable room. Increases both rent and value for not a lot of outlay

I've thought about adding an extra room but I just thought that the rent increase I would get wouldn't be nearly as much as what it would cost me to do?
Being a low socio area it's hard to get the rent that you want. It's also an older style house, not flash inside at all and very tiny!

Thank you for the comments so far

 

[sports fan]

i think you need to do a quick feasability study on the alteration costs to decide whether the outlay is worth spending.

if its a low socio area the kind of tenant youll attract to living in a garage come studio wouldnt have great prospects i would expect.

it would only take a neighbour to complain about the setup for the council to knock it on the head and your back to square one, which is worth considering

 

[Ellmay]

Do you need council approval for an attached studio?

 

[spludgey]

Do you need council approval for an attached studio?

Yes. If it's in Brisbane, it's unlikely to be approved.

I know in NSW you'd need a fire rated wall between the garage and the property, as well as meeting a whole list of requirements. Probably not worth it for a single garage.

 

[marg4000]

There are regulations governing this. Your first place to go is your local council to see if this would be allowed. You WILL need council approval.
Marg