New Build - Granny Flat Under Same Roof.

We are building a new home with a granny flat under the same roof (seperate entrance through sliding door from shared patio). This will be rented to our mum. We would have preferred a seperate dwelling however it is above our budget.

Can the rent and depreciation be claimed on tax for the granny flat portion of the home?

Have a look at the plan (attached) and tell me what you think? Should we have to move in future do you think the layout would appeal to buyers or prospective tenants?

 

I assume that the GF is in the top right corner of the plan. There's no physical separation between the GF and the main dwelling so it looks like a 5 bedder with 2 kitchens.

Tenants require a separate entry, no doors into their premises and also unit needs to be fire separated is fire wall from slab to under the roofing.

 

Hey Scott, (love the name btw),

Thanks. Im not aware of the rules around a granny flat, the entrance to it is from a sliding door from the shared patio. No a problem for our scenario but might not work well should you want to rent it out to strangers in the future. We are in QLD are there particular rules that govern what is and isn’t considered a granny flat? Do you know where I’d find them? I’d like to adjust the plans so that we comply (or at least as much as possible). Do the rules apply for tax purposes or are they for selling/listing purposes or both?

Thanks.

 

Basically "no". Why not make it a completely detached GF instead?

 

I would have much preferred a seperate dwelling, and we have the room. But unfortunately the budget doesn’t extend that far. The builder advised it would be substantially more to build a seperate dwelling which would make the granny flat unaffordable for us to build. So we are stuck with an under the same roofline option, but open to suggestions? It’s fine the way it is for us, but maybe not for future investors who want it as more of an independent granny flat, I’m not sure hose to achieve this under the same roofline.

 

What your design is, is what I call a dual occupancy not a granny flat. It does not appear to have any of requirements for fire separation which would make it an attached granny flat.

Your design appears (just visually) to be a large house with 2 kitchens. Therefore I suspect it would not be possible to rent out separately for future owners - I don't know your state regulations but generally attached or detatched there needs to be fire separation which generally costs just as much almost as a detached one.

As to design, it won't appeal to future owners as there are too many shared areas. It would be logistically hard to rent out the main house if you were having someone need to walk through the alfresco to get into the GF.

To be appealing I would suggest
- the GF may or may not need parking (even a simple paved area)
- the GF needs it's own entrace even if it's down the side of the house but remember that the GF will be walking past the main house windows in some designs so still might not be attractve
- if the GF is to the front and one side then it can remain quite separate giving the rear yard to the main house

If you can't afford a true GF then I would get a better design which can convert back to a normal house more easily afterwards. I don't think your MIL needs 2 bedrooms so I would design it so that the extra area is a nice living room, bedroom, ensuite and a small kitchen.

For example this is a design which would appeal to many people in the future as it's basically a 4 bedroom, 3 bathroom house. The accomodation at the rear can also be accessed down the side from the garage if required.


In terms of ones that don't need to be a standard house at the end it would be better to be like this (note the brick wall separation etc)



One final note it might be better to have the MIL as a boarder ( I think that's the term) rather than mix your PPOR and make it an IP as well. You need to talk to an accountant about it but you might consider that having it partially an IP will create more tax in the end.