cost of building a townhouse in melbourne

Hi

From past experience I found it better to talk to the council before engaging a draftsman,see what they will or won't allow you to build.Then proceed and get your plans drawn up.If you go straight to adraftsman and tell them to draw up what you want sure they'll do it but if council don't agree with the plans or you get any objections you will have to change plans at acost or go to VCAT at a cost.

Good luck

The earlier you approach the town planning department with your ideas the better. Having said that, you also need to have some idea of what it is you are trying to achieve. To do this you need to either be able to explain yourself particularly well, or have some basic sketch plans or land use plans to help communicate your ideas. Keep in mind also that the town planning departments also have objectives (especially regarding density) that do not concur with state planning regulations, so don't let them "pull the wool".

The benefit of communicating early with the TP department is that they are more likely to "buy into" your proposal if they feel they are being included early in the process. The opposite can also be the case; drop a whole lot of documentation on the TP department and they'll have more issues to argue about! So in summary, go early, go prepared, be inclusive and understand your rights and obligations in town planning law.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your project.

I wouldn't have thought so. I would have thought that in the plans that this would need to be included. Generally crossovers etc are last. When the builder pours for driveways to the back then the extra spaces can be done then. Were the council saying that you need 2 spaces for the front house or the back? Either way it wont be much of a problem unless the block is really tight but an architect/dm can advise you of this. You can still rent out the front house but make sure the tenant knows exactly what is happening and that this is factored into the rent for the period u will be building.

D

Hi all,

I am looking to develop 4 unit townhouses in Bayswater. My initial thought is to engage a draftsman/architect who would help me with drawing up initial plans to secure the town planning permit. Once that is done, the same draftsman/architect will get the detailed construction drawings and other necessary documentation to obtain the building permit. Once that is done, will engage a builder to start the construction and engage a contract administrator to oversee the builder on regular basis.

Would appreciate your feedback on my thoughts. Secondly, would love to know whether anybody would be able to recommend a reliable draftsman/architect during the planning permit stage and recommend a reliable builder and contract administrator during construction stage?

Looking forward to hear from you soon.

Cheers
John So

Hi jsco99,

I have recently been through a dual occ planning permit process with my architect and can strongly recommend them.

Company is Petridis architects in Ivanhoe.  I am in the process of getting working drawings done for the building permit and they have been excellent to deal with througout, especially their responses to council queries/concerns with the development etc.

Good luck with it, its a long process but well worth it!

Harry

Hi Wolverine,

the construction cost for dual occ developments depend on how much changes is required to be made to the existing dwelling and the driveway etc. From my experience a 100m2 double storey dwelling with 2 garages (1 for each occ) will cost at about $150k.

As to permit applications we normally charge about $20k for a development like yours. It will include all architectural, structural, land survey, town planning and building permit application. If you like you can PM me with your email address and I will send you a clear breakdown for the quote.

FDA

Best to find an architect/draftsman that you like and get a town planner to see what can be built on the site. During the design stage get a builder on board as his comments will assist in saving you money when it comes to construction.

I don't know the prices in Melbourne but up in Brisbane you can pay $190k for a basic townhouse up to $250k for a boutique architecturally design townhouse. Its very hard for builders to give a estimation without any plans for specifications.

This link may help.
http://www.bmtqs.com.au/ConstructionCostTable.aspx

Hi All,

Sorry to highjack this thread. I am looking to build a duplex on a 15m x 40m block in Heatherton. Does anyone know a quantity builder with some spec plans? Metricon have the “Kooyong” which seems perfect but at 650K for the 2, it seems very expensive. is this expensive? I am tossing up wether to go down the line of architect/draftsman/tender to builder approach or if i can find a builder with spec plans it may cheaper and quicker. I am also considering going owner builder.

any advice on the issue would be great.

This is the link to the kooyong:
http://www.metricon.com.au/melbourne/multi-dwelling/dual-occupancy/kooyong

Hi Maurice,
Metricon have just given me an estimate the base price is $260K with some allowances it they estimate about $315k each dwelling. I have allowed the rest for demolition. they need to do some preliminaries before they will give me a price specific to our site. We are at the start, need to demolish and build and all the planning and permits.

cheers