Hello all,
Just need some advice. I have got a property which had a garage on it. i converted the garage into a granny flat and is returning $135 per week. there is minimal parking at the property and the neighbour has put me into council. the council said they want to come and have a look at it to see if it can be passed or need to be converted back 2 garage.I have a few options:
tenant is on lease till nov this year.1) I can try to evict tenant and tell council that no 1 lives there nemore.
2) leave the tenant in there and try 2 get it approved.
3) evict tenant and rent it out 2 the people in the main house as a rumpus room for $100 per week.
4) sell the joint.
the house owes me $280,000 + expenses buy and sell + holding costs.
house rents for $200 pw flat $135 if i loose the $135 pw thats over $7000 pa.
Just wondering if ne1 has experienced nething like this? or ne1 has ne ideas???
Most people do not undertake illegal renovations on their property. Option 1 will cost you from the tenant and won’t stop the Council. Option 2 will cost you a lot more to get approval which I doubt will come. Option 3 has buckleys of happening!!! No-one I know would pay an extra 50% rent for a rumpus room. Option 4 will realise a much lower price due to illegal renovations.
By the way, you do know any insurance you may have on the property is null and void due to the illegal structure don’t you? If your building burns down or a tenant hurts themself, it is all over!
TMA
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First Home Buyer WebsiteI’m not sure that you are legally allowed to rent out a granny flat separate to main residence. I’d double check on the consequences of being caught out if this is the case. There may be heavy legal penalties.
I would probably go to the council and talk personally with a town planner and explain what you have done. Explain that ideally you would like to keep both residences and tenants and what compromise is possible.
Or alternatively seek legal counsel from a property savvy solicitor.
Good luck.
Live, Learn and GrowLifexperience
Thanks for the replys guys.
Just on it, the place is a 1 bedroom home like a spec home at kellyville inside, its real good i just meant rent it as a spare room and if tenant lives in it i have control as it is not classified as a flat its a room.Even if the granny flat/ 1 br home is approved by council, I would doubt you could rent it out separately no matter whether you call it a spare room or a granny flat or an igloo.
I would seriously approach the council and plead ignorance or get a lawyer asap.
Live, Learn and GrowLifexperience
Hi,
Here’s what I would do:
1. Agree to the council coming to have a look but request 28 days to ensure the tenant has time to clean up and is okay with the whole issue.
2. Approach council to see what is needed to obtain a certificate of occupancy for such a dwelling.
3. Conduct an audit on what is missing asap and then get busy in the 28 days to rectify the issues.
4. When the council comes be totally honest, plead ignorance and then ask them for a recommendation for “what needs to happen for this to be approved as a separate dwelling.”
I don’t like the idea of selling or passing on the responsibility to someone else. You have done will to think creatively, just see it through as all part of the learning process.
Have a wonderful night.
Bye,
Steve McKnight
**********
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What he said.
Very aptly named thread Nathan. Let us know how it goes.
Originally posted by lifeX:Even if the granny flat/ 1 br home is approved by council, I would doubt you could rent it out separately no matter whether you call it a spare room or a granny flat or an igloo.
I would seriously approach the council and plead ignorance or get a lawyer asap.
Live, Learn and GrowLifexperience
It is quite legal to rent out a granny flat on a separate lease from that on the main house, so long as it is an approved structure which in this case it is not. Within certain limits, even individual bedrooms can be leased to separate tennants.
During the 28 days breathing space suggested by Steve, it would be a good idea to try and get the neighbour on-side. It won’t affect the issue at hand because now it is in the hands of the council and they need to follow process. It may, however, stop the neighbour looking for other issues to pick a fight over.
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http://www.depreciator.com.auI think your neighbour has a valid complaint, you are profiting from his loss. You are also making things difficult for the next family that may have a legit ‘granny’ that they need to help. These flats are usually approved on a ‘needs’ basis, that is, when a family wants to take care of aging parents.
How about a tent in the backyard! What would you charge for that?
Just some thoughts – the over arching issue is that you have an unapproved development that may also be a prohibited use in the land use zone which covers the land.
This means that even if you butter Council up and plead ignorance and ‘clean the place up’ there is little Council can do if it’s a prohibited use in the zone.
Granny flats are often defined as ‘dual occupancy’ which means they contain a kitchen and can be considered as a separate ‘habitable dwelling’. A lot of Councils restrict granny flats and dual occupancies in many residential zones. So if it’s a prohibited use there’s not much you can do.
Sorry to sound like a know it all – I’m a town planner.
Enelson
Hey guys,
Thankyou for all your posts and help on this one. I have had council out to look today, they said there may be a few modifications i could do to make it legal. It was a good result from what we discussed and theres a few possible avenues to go down in which we can keep the dwelling with residents in it.
I will keep you posted with my results.cheers NB
what happened!!!??
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