What are people looking for in size for outdoor space now?
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Very true, Matt. I agree with you on that one!
I think it's more relevant than ever. The true worth of small blocks and their flimsy show-pony mansions will only be apparent several decades in the future.
The land itself is the only enduring asset.
The land itself is the only enduring asset.
Couldn't disagree with you more... with entertainment for children moving more and more towards tv, dvd's and video games. yards are going to be used less and less into the future.. whether or not people agree with this it is already happening now and I can only see back yards to continue to become more redundant in the years to come.
i'm with Joles on that one, with regards to childrens entertainment/use of yards. The driver of this "trend" I think is the diminishing size of land. With so many backyards the size of a holding cell, with colourbond fencing providing no outlook, it is no wonder they'd rather escape to their Wii's. Have a yard, and they will play IMO.
Cabinfever is right, the true asset is the land. This is a fact beyond dispute. That's why you pay so much more for a few extra m2 in any new estate. The house is depreciation.
As I have said many times on this forum, I have just moved to a block of 707 m2, relatively large block, especially by city standards.
House is 23 squares.
This is a downsize for us as previously we lived on a block just over 1000 m2.
Although I no longer have little kids and only a very small dog, I still want a decent yard area, haveing a garden is more important to me than extra rooms in the house that I would rarely use.
We will have an alfresco 6m x 10 m and then 15 m deep of back garden behind that, a 6x4m shed will go in there but rest will be lawn, plants, trees.
My parents are retired, in their late 60's, and they have a very deep block in Adelaide, there is 45 m of back yard behind the house (block is 17m wide) and they have a magnificent garden, established from scratch since they built the house 9 years ago.
My father spends more waking hours out in the garden than indoors.
However, I appreciate that this is a very individual thing and sometimes something has to give - in my case I would rather substitute, say, a home theatre, since I rarely watch TV, let alone movies, rather than a garden area.
House is 23 squares.
This is a downsize for us as previously we lived on a block just over 1000 m2.
Although I no longer have little kids and only a very small dog, I still want a decent yard area, haveing a garden is more important to me than extra rooms in the house that I would rarely use.
We will have an alfresco 6m x 10 m and then 15 m deep of back garden behind that, a 6x4m shed will go in there but rest will be lawn, plants, trees.
My parents are retired, in their late 60's, and they have a very deep block in Adelaide, there is 45 m of back yard behind the house (block is 17m wide) and they have a magnificent garden, established from scratch since they built the house 9 years ago.
My father spends more waking hours out in the garden than indoors.
However, I appreciate that this is a very individual thing and sometimes something has to give - in my case I would rather substitute, say, a home theatre, since I rarely watch TV, let alone movies, rather than a garden area.
I personally think front and rear yards have become much too small. The small front yard also means the average driveway is only about 4.5 x 5.5m. Add to that a small garage and you have almost no storage or parking space.
My estate is a typical example: Most blocks are about 620sq and the houses range from 29-49 sq. Even though everyone has a double garage almost no one uses it because their garages are full of all their junk like lawn-mowers, kids bikes, tools etc. So everyone parks one car in the driveway and the other has to go in the street because the driveway isn't big enough. The result is a congested street and alot of street noise due to kids and families spending more time out in the street instead of their backyards. I really think councils should make all blocks a minimum of 800 squares - of course they won't because they wouldn't makes as much on rates.
Just think what these areas will become like when the kids grow up and get their own cars and want to work on them etc. Also there is no room for those do it yourself projects or caravans or trailers etc etc. These small low maintenance blocks will be a life long curse. Another thing to make note of is these estates have virtually no large trees or vegetation other than the usual lame from garden.
That said I don't think it makes much difference to resale value as usually the only real improvement land size makes to property value is if it can be subdivided which kind of goes against the whole point of having more room. Eventually I'll probably sell up and aim for something closer to 1/2 acre to allow for a big garage and some room to be anti-social.
For the record my front yard is 15.5x5m and the backyard is 15.5x12.5m. If I had a choice I'd have it about 2 metres wider to increase the garage size and have the front yard about 3 metres deeper for a longer driveway.
My estate is a typical example: Most blocks are about 620sq and the houses range from 29-49 sq. Even though everyone has a double garage almost no one uses it because their garages are full of all their junk like lawn-mowers, kids bikes, tools etc. So everyone parks one car in the driveway and the other has to go in the street because the driveway isn't big enough. The result is a congested street and alot of street noise due to kids and families spending more time out in the street instead of their backyards. I really think councils should make all blocks a minimum of 800 squares - of course they won't because they wouldn't makes as much on rates.
Just think what these areas will become like when the kids grow up and get their own cars and want to work on them etc. Also there is no room for those do it yourself projects or caravans or trailers etc etc. These small low maintenance blocks will be a life long curse. Another thing to make note of is these estates have virtually no large trees or vegetation other than the usual lame from garden.
That said I don't think it makes much difference to resale value as usually the only real improvement land size makes to property value is if it can be subdivided which kind of goes against the whole point of having more room. Eventually I'll probably sell up and aim for something closer to 1/2 acre to allow for a big garage and some room to be anti-social.
For the record my front yard is 15.5x5m and the backyard is 15.5x12.5m. If I had a choice I'd have it about 2 metres wider to increase the garage size and have the front yard about 3 metres deeper for a longer driveway.
So everyone parks one car in the driveway and the other has to go in the street because the driveway isn't big enough. The result is a congested street and alot of street noise due to kids and families spending more time out in the street instead of their backyards. I really think councils should make all blocks a minimum of 800 squares - of course they won't because they wouldn't makes as much on rates.
Another thing to make note of is these estates have virtually no large trees or vegetation other than the usual lame from garden.
Another thing to make note of is these estates have virtually no large trees or vegetation other than the usual lame from garden.
I don't think making blocks a minimum of 800m2 would solve the driveway problem. The driveway issue is the fault of the council. In the council I will be moving to (city of whittlesea) you have to have the garage setback a minimum 5.5m from the footpath and therefore you can fit two cars in front of the garage as the driveway is the same length as the garage.
Also the tree issue can be avoided by council or convenant enforcement. ie. in my estate the developer has planted a tree that will grow to the height of the house on each blocks nature strip. Also we have a requirement to have at least one tree in our front yard that grows to at least the height of our house.
So in summary the main issues you raised can be avoided by planning ahead by both the council and developers and yourselves!!.
I have a 405m2 block and will easily be able to fit 4 large cars on my property.
exactly WBA ... a bit of planning goes a long way!
I have a 2 car garage with room in the driveway for a further 2 cars and parking out the back for 2 more. Total 6 cars.
I also have 2 x 6 metres on the side of my garage for a workshop and a further 1.5 x 4 metres at the back of the garage for storage.
Effective use is what we were looking for and we have maximised our usage in each area of the land and house.
I have a 2 car garage with room in the driveway for a further 2 cars and parking out the back for 2 more. Total 6 cars.
I also have 2 x 6 metres on the side of my garage for a workshop and a further 1.5 x 4 metres at the back of the garage for storage.
Effective use is what we were looking for and we have maximised our usage in each area of the land and house.
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