Hi All, I renovated and converted the downstairs rumpus of my house in Southwestern Sydney to a granny flat and the main dwelling upstairs to 2 units instead of one more than a year ago and got tenants in there. This was done without Council Approval and so 7 months later I got a notice to stop use, demolish and restore back to original - a standard council notice. I was asked by Council to remove tenants by giving them notice when I asked them a time extension to 'stop use.' So with the eviction notice of 3 months I was granted the time extension to stop use. During this time I have also done a DA (to get retrospective approval for the granny flat and modifications to main dwelling to return it back to one dwelling with home office) and lodged it and it is now sitting with council. I was told by the Council via email that if you lodge a DA before the due date of their Notice/order then that notice is abeyed till DA consent granted. Is this how it works? My tenants are having difficulty finding a place due to covid and lockdowns even though I gave them the legal required 3 months. I told Council that and they told me they will look into it closer to notice expiry date which is end Sept. I have partly removed the wall that divided main dwelling into two units so now it is technically a single dwelling/ share house with 2 kitchens. The granny below is as is because that is what I am seeking approval for via DA and Building Certificate. Am I on the right track (I made a dumb mistake in past and am seeking to correct it now). I have done all I can to comply with Council including stop use as multi dwellings by reluctantly trying to remove great tenants but have not been able to do so. I have also complied by converting back main dwelling to one instead of 2. I am in R2 Zone and can have a house + granny but not 3 dwellings. What is my course of action and does Council have grounds to fine me? I have all evidence of correspondence etc. Thanks in advance, cheers Ron
Covid is a BS excuse (rent must be really cheap), they were given 3 months notice, now you should be evicting them ! You are being played. I'm in south Sydney, I've had 3 houses near me sell, vacate and new owners move in well within 3 months !
Hey mate na its not, for the 1 bed granny with street parking I am charging past $300 which is the going rate in south west Sydney. For the tenant upstairs I can technically keep him now that the house is a main dwelling not two dwellings by removing the part wall to create doorway? As its now become a sharehouse am I right.
You got off light. I’m in Melbourne and I turned an old timber framed garage into a high end granny flat. I didn’t get any council approvals. Lovely neighbour told council. Ive been told to revert back to garage and get all work certified. Catch is I won’t be able to as the garage was never built properly by previous owner in the first place. I’ve been told my only option is to knock everything down I will loose $80k. Don’t understand why neighbours do this when it doesn’t affect them.
You may perceive it doesn't afcect the neighbor(s), but it always does ! Maybe they had the same idea with their place, they may have spent time and money doing feasibility, getting quotes and council permit applications only to be knocked back, then see you doing the same thing idea and are lef thinking wtf..... Or there's yet another car trying to park on an already busy street Or additional noise from the residence. Or a smelly rubbish bin on the other side of the fence from their outdoor entertaining area.
Or the fact that if we all just do whatever we like, just cause it's gonna benefit us, our neighbourhoods will look like the streets or Afghanistan. Unapproved works effects us all.
So you're upset because you didn't follow the process and sunk $80k.... You know the garage was not built properly to begin with and decided to proceed when you could have demolished and rebuilt a proper granny flat for another $20k. And this is the neighbour's fault? Building codes are there for a reason, not because someone was bored and wanted to write something up.
He may have not known the original garage wasn't approved. Did the OP take out title insurance? They have done the wrong thing, but there might be grounds for a claim given the original garage wasn't approved and requires demolition.
