Hi! We have a house in Auburn that has no parking and I'm trying to work out if we can somehow add a spot. It's a narrow block at 6m wide and the front of the house is about 4.6m from the fence. I don't want to build a garage, just a driveway and a carport, but it is a small spot. I've had a look at the development control plans on the council website but can't see any mention of carports. It does say that for new developments the garage needs to be 1m inside the boundary, but I'm not sure if the same applies for carports.. Does anyone have any experience in this area? Thanks!
How about a photo? Your idea sounds good but I would first question whether council will allow a carport out the front.
Even if you are now allowed any sort of structure, I'd add a pad for parking on. No parking must be a negative for any rental.
4.6m isn't really enough for a carport. A single carport structure is normally around 3m x 5.5 or 6. I would see if you are allowed a crossover/driveway and put in some paving to create a parking post. If there are fences or low walls that obscure driver sight then they might not even allow that. A cross over will also reduce the amount of on street parking as it will remove around 3m of street space. Do any of the neighbours have something?
The house on the left is on the same size block however it was knocked down and a 3br brick house was built, set back much further than ours, so it has 2 tandem parking spaces at the front. This photo was taken after we finished the interior work and the landscaping out the front. The 3 bushes in front of the verandah have grown out and are now trimmed level with the hand rail at the front of the deck. To fit the car space we would need to pull out the fence, rip out the garden, demolish the deck area under the bedroom window and then concrete that whole area. The distance from the fence to the front wall of the house is about 4.6m. If we keep the stairs where they on the right then you could only park straight in, but if we relocate the stairs behind the front wall of the house and concrete the whole front, you could park at an angle for more space. The other complication is a tree on the nature strip - you can see the leaves in the top right of the photo - this would probably also need to go.. I'm not too concerned about covering the area with a carport - off street parking should be enough of an advantage.
Gorgeous house! I think get a better PM! Plenty of people would love to live in that place. But do get the maintenance stuff done asap and repaint inside and out so that you attract the fussier types - might get a single lady with cats or an old couple with dogs or a single mum with one. Just make sure your rent is the right price for the right people. Good people are not forced to pay high rents. It will work if you market it right. I would live there. Now seeing it, I wouldn't put a driveway or carport in front.
Wow, thanks for the positive feedback! We loved the character too when we first saw it. The inside was much worse than the outside and we couldn't afford to do both at the time. We'll start chasing quotes on painting and fencing and hopefully that will help attracting a good tenant. It will also help with a revaluation or if we decide to sell it. Shame about the parking though, but it would definitely change the character of the house.
Also if you repaint outside, consider the colours. Sometimes a bright grey with white trim can look really fresh - with a mid grey roof.
I severely doubt any council will let you take down that street tree and parking under that tree is probably better than a slice on concrete at the front. In this instance I think you leave as is but do make the house prettier
It can be difficult at times to get a spot right out the front, you can be lucky but not often. There are townhouses across the road and some units a few doors up so parking gets busy.
I really doubt council will approve a carspace in that location as the depth does not meet Aus standard, from memory it's 5.4m.
