Its been a dream of both my partner and myself to build 2 duplexes Recently I thought this dream would come true. Knowing the area we live in and the blocks being narrow and not many new developments to date.. we started with looking for a duplex that would fix the average blocks in our area. After 2 years we found a design we fell in love with...then we spoke with the builder who told us to contact the council...and the bad news hit...the blocks we had been considering were/would be too small....at this stage and not allowable. Then we were chased by the lovers of Reno, Enviro etc...and being a frugalist and lover of recycling this hit me hard with guilt about our proposed development and demo of a perfectly good building basically. So.. Now we are considering building a single Dream Home for rent. Or.. We could just go out and purchase a New House and Land Package in a booming area...with great future growth. Would be interested in creating a chat on this and hearing others thoughts?
The reno would be 1/5th of the costs. Duplexes and House and Land the same. Its the guilt about the demo...that gets me.
So I'm struggling to under stand the post You want to do a duplex which requires demolishing a house and building 2 of a design. The design you like doesn't fit on most blocks in the area. So your back up option is to do a retain and build of half the design you like? Is that right? Or am I confusing 2 issues 1. that the design you like doesn't fit 2. that you feel guilty demolishing a perfectly good house just do you can build a duplex The second part I get. I have demolished and I have retained. It's certainly emotionally easier to chose demolish when the house has no intrinsic value, is ugly and has lost all period features. But for the ones where there is still some nice character I would run the figures on renovating it as in some purchases you practically get the house for free and even if you spend $100k on renovating it, it is still cheaper than demolishing it and new build. For the first part if the design you like doesn't fit then ammend the design and/or find another design. This is a IP and unless you are doing this to live in one then you design to the block, not try and find a block to fit the design
You would often be far better off to buy the land then contract for the build separately. H & L packages are loaded with fees and profit, and are sold on the basis of saving a bit of stamp duty. Check out each option.
Hi @Property101, As with @Westminster, I'm struggling to understand the specific problem. 1) Do you own the block already, or is it on the market? 2) Is the problem that the block can not be subdivided due to block size, or that the design has too much floor area? 3) What precisely did the council say 'no' to, and how did you ask the question? On your final points: "Dream home for rent" This, to me, sounds like an oxymoron. As in your dream home that you will rent? Or the dream home for a renter? Overall, it's probably going to lead to overcapitalizing and missing the delicate balance between cost input and value output in a development. Prima facia it doesn't seem like a good idea. "Buy a H&L in a growth area" I don't think anyone can reliably predict a long term growth area for H&L packages. Not only do you buy retail (expensive and little to no value add potential), you are also paying for all the middlemen along the way. You are also typically buying in a new estate where there are no supply constraints and plenty of similar properties available. This means no long term growth prospects are almost always poor. These areas typically only do well in the short term and when the overall market booms and they take a colossal beating when it doesn't. Take a look at what happened to Baldivis as our local example. On top of that, most of the people that give 'investment advice' are really just spruikers and salespeople masquerading as consultants. This, to me, sounds like a terrible idea at face value Apologies if this post seems overly negative, certainly it is not intended to be discouraging. I'm sure there is a better strategy for you than any of the above. Hope this helps, Angad.
If you haven't bought yet, then why not buy something where you are allowed to do the duplex you want?
Because we only wanted to build on the block that we found due to its aspects. To be truthful we had moved on from the duplex to our other plans until I posted here...when we were told by the council no...no means no. Wasting a lot of everyone's time now...and need to make a firm decision. Thank you to all who have shared and made for hopefully an informative read to others whilst talking things through with me.
So what was the Rcode of the lot then? And how far were you short? I mean I find it odd that your starting point was the aspect and not the zoning. I guess I really want to build a 5 storey mini apartment block in my backyard - it would have an amazing aspect over the local lake - but you know, zoning rules and all that!
Have no idea. We had the house and land first.. Next to maximize return was to build duplexes. The block is on a hill with views so we want to take advantage of that. We wanted a modern building with glamorous interior which we found. All other building specs.. Would be in the hands of the builder... that's why we trusted and choose them.
We are not complete idiots and we are less than 75sq metres short. I had spoken to environmental and planning previously who told us to wait as council may reduce there zoning/requirements and be more agreeable to more housing density in the inner city in time.
So if you do want to fulfil dreams of building a duplex in the future, the Rcodes are something that you should start getting a good working knowledge of - especially the lot size requirements for subdivision. Except you don't know that you're 75sqm short - you seem to be taking the council's word for it. Hint: If I listened to what the council said on any of my subdivision projects, I would have gotten nothing done.
