How to get council approval for pre-exisitng granny flat?

Generally speaking, one would think that a pre-existing building would have an approval in place? So first step would be to determine its status. If no planning or building approvals exist, the next step is to ascertain what approvals are required. Does it require only a building approval, or is a town planning permit also required?

Both building and planning approvals can be sought retrospectively but it can get a little complicated, especially if it is non compliant in some way, or is upsetting the neighbours.

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A draftsman will know if you need to take it any further and be able to explain it in easy terms if you pop into an office for a quick free consultation chat.

l've had a few quick five minute meetings on site with a draftperson when considering a prospective purchase and each time been free but he also knows I've paid for there services in the past and will pay for it in the future if a deal goes ahead.

'drafting services' would be your search term in Telstra Yellow Pages.

TPP = Town Planning Permit.
Sometimes also referred to as the DA (depending on where you're from).

I too, am looking at purchasing a property with a separate granny flat.  It was originally a shed and garage all in the one. Now it has been renovated into a 2 bedroom granny flat with kitchen, bathroom, and garage.  Buyers are spooked, and so am I, as the granny flat was only approved as a shed, not a liveable dwelling for humans to live in.  Vendors are currently working to get some sort of approval from council so they can sell the property as fast as possible.

Some issues here….ideally it would be good if the granny flat was approved as a separate dwelling/accommodation in its own right. Then you could install a separate electricity meter and have a completely legal tenant residing.  The agent has said that if council does approve it will most likely be only approved as a granny flat…which means you cannot install a separate electricity meter, and  you aren't supposed to be renting the flat out as a separate accommodation.  However the agent tells me that he has many setups where landlords rent out granny flats illegally (so to speak). And landlords simply add extra charges to the weekly rent for water and electricity. What are the risks of this???

If accommodations can be rented out, total rent would be $240 for house and $160 for granny flat. $400 p.w in total on a very low $200ks investment. Not a bad return.

Does anyone have any comments on this? Advice from previous experience??? Please help  Cheers

Perhaps have a look at this from an investment position. Generally speaking, these sort of problems can be solved by way of not affecting the current amenity (that is to say the dwelling already exists) as long as you have the cash to solve the problem. Let's say that it costs $20,000 to solve the problem – this represents a solid return especially in light of the discount to market you are likely to benefit from given the "spooked" buyers in the pool.

It may even be possible to segregate the titles if the issues of car parking and private open space can be addressed. Without knowing any particulars it's difficult to establish what is possible, but it seems worthy of further investigation. Even if the works can get a retrospective building approval, there should be nothing stopping you from leasing the space as accommodation, although I'm sure there are tenancy rights to negotiate.

I guess the only risk you run is insurance liabilities from tenant in un-approved granny flat (i.e. tenant being injured due to fault with accommodation)…I'm sure insurance companies would not pay out because of this???