Hi everyone, Would love to hear your thoughts on building on E4 land what the pitfalls are if there are any. There are many house and land packages being advertised for fair prices on 600sqm blocks.
The main pitfall is most likely bushfire risk. This will add significant $$$ to the cost of construction to make it compliant. I expect there will also strict limitations on landscaping. House lots are most likely on ridgetops and this is the worst place to have a house in a bushfire. I've also been in situations at the bottom of gullies with wind racing through during a hazard reduction. Not a fun place to be. Try and find out from the developer what the BAL rating is for the block. Building Construction and Design - NSW Rural Fire Service There is a chart here with the construction requirements for the various BAL ratings http://www.bal.net.au/BAL-Chart.pdf NB - ex Rural Fire Service member (many years ago) and I wrote software to model bushfire behaviour at Uni.
thanks @wombat777 for the great advice. I thought bushfires may be an issue so I will drop this idea. Another lot I'm interested in is over 100m to the nearest bush but on a ridge, any thoughts on this? It is surrounded by other houses.
If you're worried about bushfires, 100m is nothing. Fire will jump that quite easily. Another factor you need to take into mind is how easy the land is to build on. Are there massive rocks thay need to be removed/chopped etc? This will add significant cost. A mate at work bought one near there, and is spending an extra $60-80k now that they've realised what needs to be done to get the land ready for building. And with what @wombat777 was saying, due to the fire hazard (hes got a pretty low BAL, considering), he still has to do metal framework. Just be careful. Costs can add up VERY quickly.
thanks for that @mikey7 the land is pretty flat, no trees/rocks and zoned R2. The agent is saying either 0 rating or worst case between 12.5 - 19 bal rating. Land is being cleared all around this area as lots of E4 zoned land coming for sale.
Ask the developer for a borehole report. They may have one. Will indicate depth to rock. What is the soil classification? In that area, be wary of anything other than M, H1 or H2.