Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Oct 04, 2010 1:32 pm Hi, I am looking at building a duplex in Adelaide. Do we need to subdivide the land? Can anyone recommend a good surveyor or planner that can organise this process? Thanks Re: Building a duplex in ADELAIDE 2Oct 22, 2010 9:38 pm Hi Lightsview, You should be okay to lodge an application with Council for semi-detached dwellings (duplexes) and subsequently build, without subdividing the land until during or after the build process (although I have heard that some banks are hesitant to finance the build without having the two new Titles in place). For this initial part of the process, it's probably best just to approach a builder/designer/architect, after contacting Council yourself to confirm minimum allotment widths/areas for the Zone and Policy Area the block is located in. Some Councils prefer to see the construction of the new dwellings substantially commenced prior to approving the land division, if located in a Zone or Policy Area where minimum site areas are different for semi-detached dwellings and detached dwellings (eg. if 300sq.m minimum for semi-d and 350sq.m for detached dwellings). Get in touch with a planning consultant if you can't satisfy these desired minimums and feel like a long, drawn-out process ending in a planning refusal and the option to appeal to the Court. Any planner will do for preliminary advice... check the yellow pages (MasterPlan, Connor Holmes and URPS are probably a good starting point). My advice would be to write to Council requesting some feedback on your proposal prior to lodging an application - most Councils will provide guidance and it's handy to have a written response rather than a 5 minute conversation with the duty planner. Surveyors... again, yellow pages. If you meet Council guidelines, then it'll be a straight forward process and you should be able to use pretty much anyone (as a starting point for enquiries... Sawleylock O'Callaghan, Hennig & Co and Calder Harris). They just draw up the plan of division and lodge with Planning SA, who then refer the application to Council for a decision. If you already have a planning consent in place for the two dwellings, then these plans would be used to depict the location of the party wall on the plan of division. If Council has already approved the two dwellings, there should be no problem in approving the corresponding land division fairly quickly (unless you're in one of those awkward areas with different allotment size requirements for different types of dwellings). Hope this helps (and doesn't confuse too much). Cheers Even if it's not being sub-divided and you want to keep it as Torrens title, you will still need to talk to a town planner or Council themselves, to see if they will allow… 1 11035 Give Jonathan a call. Tell him you know me. He is in my opinion the best surveyor I have ever worked with. His number is 0425 285 622 All the best Simeon 3 12401 2 6183 |