Changing the location of driveway in a new estate

Hi homeone people,

Currently I am waiting for my land to be titled and we are in process of finalizing a house design.

We have hit a small bump in the road. Our driveway , as per the engineering from estate, show that it will be on left side. But we like a house design that has the garage on the right. This gives us the family room and leisure on east side, which would give more sunlight.

Has anyone here has ever done something like this before? Do it require council/developer approval?

Best,
Sandeep

Hi Sandeep, yes it does need an approval. We are in the same situation. Advise your developer that you are wanting to relocate the crossover to the other side. You need confirmation in writing/email just to make sure. We initially requested it from our developer and since the land is still under development, there is no re construction costs involved, however it has been weeks and no answer yet, so I have lodged a request to our concil and waiting for their approval before we can finalise the drawings to our builder.

Thanks, Melbournevic

May I know which one is your council and what would be the process? Need to be prepared if our developer does the same. My estate manager has confirmed that we need developer approval. She is going to ask them as soon as possible

You'd think that California kerbs would just be de rigour in a development these days, wouldn't you?

Hi Sandeep,

We are with Casey council and we purchased the land at Canopy Amstel which is expected to be titled in June 2019. Which estate did you purchase your land?

I only called the council to request the crossover relocation. They will then assign it to the relevant team to check and confirm approval. I'm still waiting for the approval. You need to ask them to provide their approval in writing or by email so you have evidence just in case.

Thanks. We bought in SpringRidge estate in Wallan, Mitchell shire council.

Are you buying a build to boundary block?

what's a build to boundary block? our block has no easement on any side but the developer's design guideline asks as to leave 1.5 meter on sides.

Some blocks allow you to build the garage on the boundary. And, that is usually why the developer tells you which side you have to put your garage. Otherwise, you end up with garage walls touching.
If you have to leave 1.5m on both sides, then you aren't a build to boundary block.

I see. Our block is 18m wide and house is built for a 14m wide block. so we can leave more space to garage side to avoid future conflicts.

Just got an email from estate manager. My request is approved. That was fast. They will relocate the crossover without ant cost.

Good to hear. Yes that was really fast. I haven't received our approval so hopefully sooner. I was told that it's because the estate has not been developed yet. Is your estate already developed or still under construction?

I am still a bit not familiar with all this terminology. The estate is half built. There are houses there. They release part of the estate land each quarter or something I believe.

Good luck mate.

We've got approval to relocate the crossover to the other side yayy!

I do have a question though, and hope someone here can share their thoughts, experience, or someone you know who were in a similar case.

We are building a 2 storey home and the building envelope won't have an issue with the current proposed location of the crossover, however as our preference is to relocate the crossover to the other side, will the building profile / building envelope be moved as well? Our developer has mentioned over the phone that a building profile is interchangeable however unable to confirm in writing as the MCP is still with the council but based on their experience, when the crossover is relocated so as the building profile.

Our developer is requesting us to sign the form before they can proceed to relocate the crossover and was advised that if we could provide this as soon as possible if we are going ahead as the construction of that stage in the estate will commence soon. I'm now in the situation where I am so confused - whether we should proceed to relocate the crossover as this is our preference, or will this risk us of not meeting the building envelope? Is there a possibility where the crossover has been relocated, but the building profile is not?

Appreciate your comments on this. Thanks

Didn’t you say you’re just flipping a design you like, as long as you don’t build closer than the 1.5m setbacks you said about then it should be fine?

Thanks gillybean, yes we are flipping the house as we prefer this layout therefore we have to relocate the crossover. The land is 16m × 37m, we are building 2 storey 13.90m x 24.47m. Not sure what you meant by 1.5m set back, is this distance from the main wall of the house to the boundary? If so, yes we will meet this minimum as the distance of the main wall to the boundary is 3m and 1.9m on the other side, however if the set back of 1.5m has to be from the garage wall to the boundary then this isn't possible.

This is the original design - but we are flipping the house and relocating the crossover to the other side (I have marked in red below where the proposed new crossover is).

From your plans, it looks like you are building the garage to the boundary. If you change to the other side, is there a house block next to you and will there garage be on the same side and also built to boundary. That could affect the building envelope in that both houses will basically be touching.

Thanks bestspecials, there is a small gap of 175mm between garage wall and boundary. Yes, there is a garage to the other side, so if we are changing the crossover, our garage wall is next to the garage wall of the neighbour. The land there is still unsold so unsure if they are building to the boundary as well.

Does the building envelope change when the crossover is moved? Because if this is the case, then I think we are safe to proceed to relocate the crossover? I'm just worried that it could lead to an issue if we are relocating the crossover but the building envelope is not.