Council inspection next week

Hi,
I have a brand new 2 storey 8 bedroom with 2 kitchens and 2 laundries in Victoria.
I intended to have my in laws stay at the bottom and us stay upstairs. However our circumstances have changed and I have to have my house up for rent till we are ready to move in.
I do have 2 mailboxes one for us and another for the in laws.
I tried renting out the entire house for weeks but no one turned up for the open home.
Then I constructed a door in a corridor (non structural) to close a part of the house and had the other part up for rent. (advertised as level 1 and street name) just 2 weeks ago.
The first half is accessible via the front door and the second half via the alfresco at the back.
The house is completely empty at the moment.

It appears a neighbour complained to the council and I got called by them.
The council inspector on the phone was really rude and aggressive and talking to me in an excited tone. I ensured my behaviour throughout was calm and with an attitude of 'what do I need to fix'.

Now they will be over to inspect in a few weeks and said they will take pictures of my house.
They are demanding the house not be up for rent anymore and accusing me of illegal dual occupancy.

I feel I have done nothing wrong, yet feel stressed and anxious.
Can the council stop me from locking up a part of my house and renting another part of my house?

 

I believe in Victoria that it would be illegal. They don't even allow granny flats to be rented to non relatives and this would be a similar situation but even worse as there is no fire or acoustic separation between the 2 levels.

 

Hi Westminster so i cannot rent out a part of my house and keep the other part empty till my large family moves in?

 

No.

Unless the zoning allows dual occupancy, it is all or nothing. If you want to rent it out, it must be the whole house.
Marg

 

I would imagine [something along the lines of] you'd need to have your premise changed from a Class 1a to 1b (boarding house) which I think requires a development approval which is subject to your local city town plaining requirements (may be self-assessable), and if successful a new certificate of classification is issued, then you'd need to comply with the fire regulations and have an occupiers statement drafted, then you're pretty much good to go. Landlord insurance on a 'boarding house' may be different from standard rental property, so check that out too. I've never personally had to do one before so don't know.

• Building Codes of Australia (BCA) Classes of buildings
  
  
• Rooming houses A guide for residents and operators
  
  
• When you have more than 5 unrelated parties living under one roof, things get exponentially complicated, good luck with it, sounds like a great earner if you can keep the neighbours happy!

 

What is the difference between renting out a house with the garage/under house storage listed as off limits/locked/retained for the owners storage ? ? ?

If this is clearly listed in the advertising, exactly what is for rent and what is off limits and that area remains empty then surely the council can't accuse you of dual occupancy !

It isn't separately metered is it ?

The council should likely be doing a check to ensure it isn't currently dual occupied, not assuming it "might" be in the future (or why did they issue the building permit )

PS, remove the second letterbox prior to them showing up

 

Was it approved with two kitchens?

 

Dual occupancy is a matter of council regulation, not how you feel.

 

Thanks for your reply.
I have another house in the same neighbourhood where I've locked up one room as I'm using it as storage but rented out the rest of the house.
Are you saying that's illegal?

 

I would have only one family at all times.
I think you mis understand my post.

 

No.

In your post you said you intended to rent out part of your house until your family moved in. Then there would be two unrelated families living there.

Ask the council for advice on what is allowed - they set the “rules”.
Marg

 

Your not occupying the room.

 

Yep.

 

Sounds like illegal dual occupancy as noted above.

If you rented the property out without council approval and the place burns to the ground, it's likely your insurance will not cover you.

You could try approval for a boarding house, but that's a whole other kettle of fish and you may not want that scenario/it may not work well in that area.

 

Oh well that's easy then, you tell whoever you do not have more than 5 adults residing there and they can bugger off

 

The family renting would move out and my large family of 7 would move in

 

Yes. Thanks

 

And I won't be here either. I'm only locking up part of my house. Only one family will occupy at all times. - Either one tenant in a part of the house. After the tenancy my large family will occupy the entire house.

 

I think you mis understand my post. Please look at my description and responses.