Building a narrow lot home in Perth

Hi Jty

The first thing I'd recommend if you want to save money is to build single storey. You will fit a 270m² house on that block (zoning dependant). If you go double storey you won't get a high spec build if you can even get a double storey house at that price.

With regards your other points

1) the cheapest option will be to go direct to the builder. A custom design of your own will cost more.

2) You can't "leave out" the bricklaying or plastering from the price. Some builders will allow you to nominate your own trades but they would just get paid the same rate as the normal trades. If you are the tradie or have a relative that is doing it for free they would get paid for the job and you'd have to work it out between you.

3) it would depend what you mean by site works. If there is retaining or fill that needs to be done then you can probably save by getting the block flat and ready to build on. The builder will most likely want to do their own compaction and final siteworks as they will provide the guarantee in the end.

Also in terms of site work...is there someone that can do everything we would need in one go? We have arranged a surveyor to go out and do a contour survey but I’m not sure about the soil, engineering or what else might be needed. Perhaps this is better for the builder to just do too? Really new to this sorry

Yes it is. I’m not sure, my friend works for the council in planning and she told me. I didn’t ask why.

There are a few builders around that will build you a 2 storey for 300k. New level homes comes to mind, they have some narrow lot designs.

Personally, I'd aim for 'quality', not 'quantity'.

Unless things have changed recently, Australia builds the largest houses in the world, averaging around 240sqm for new builds.

We also have extremely poor building standards. A leaky, energy inefficient home being the norm.

Do we really need houses this size? The average UK house is a third this size, & actually shrinking.

No, I don't think we'll be building houses that size any time soon. But I think we've got to be much sensible with design. To save money, improve energy efficiency, reducing CO2 emissions & urban sprawl. Heck a smaller home will even save you time spent on cleaning, & time & money on maintenance.

So ask yourself, how have you come in at 260-270sqm, a very large house? Do people really need that rarely used guest bedroom. Wouldn't it be better to incorporate this space in a multipurpose room that serves double duty, also used as the second living area, or a study. How about the butler's kitchen? Honestly, often one of the silliest design ideas ever, often complicating family life, making it harder to do the dishes, out prepare food, or whatever you've setup to do back there. How about the voids? Wasted space that can make a home way less thermally efficient. Acting as a giant chimney, making the living areas uncomfortably cold in winter, as much of the heat escapes upstairs.

Narrow lots are particularly tricky, as access to sunlight has a huge effect on comfort & energy efficiency.

Depending on the orientation, narrow lots can suffer from problems of overshadowing by a northern neighbour (for eastern & western frontage blocks). While northern frontage blocks can have big problems with access of light to living areas (due to the large double garage at the front). Both northern & southern frontage blocks can result in a home with far too much eastern & western glazing, which result in a scorching hot home in summer.

Reducing the home size will give more opportunities to position the home so that it is not overshadowed. Money saved can be spent on design to overcome the challenges outlined about, & on improved building quality (such as increasing insulation), to improve energy efficiency, saving money & improving comfort.

Below is an extreme example of design overcoming the challenges of a narrow lot, overshadowed by a northern neighbour, a large block of flats. Located at 35 Kangaroo St, Manly, NSW. A traditional design would have resulted in a cold dark home, with zero privacy. Instead the occupants enjoy a private, light filled home, with views of the sky.

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No, I don't think most people would have the budget or inclination to build a home like this. But it just highlights how good design can overcome some very large challenges.

Start with something more simple. Getting the basics right, by orientating a home correctly.

https://www.yourhome.gov.au/passive-design

'Facing' is a confusing term nowadays. It used to mean where the living areas faced, so usually the backyard. So a north facing home actually had a southern frontage. Nowadays 'facing' seems to be used interchangeably with 'frontage'.

So, by 'north facing' do you mean a northern frontage?

If so, it is certainly a hard orientation to deal with, in terms of energy efficiency, light & comfort.

Particularly for a narrow block, even more so if you want a double garage on the street frontage. So what are your thoughts on the garage?

A 6m wide double garage won't leave enough room for a proper, decent-width north facing room. A single garage will leave enough room for a decent-width north facing room. If this is the approach you take, of recommend the north facing room is an open planned living room.

Although there is another option. A garage, separated from the home, with a courtyard between them.

In this case the garage will not usually rob the home of northern light. All rooms across the entire front of the home will have access to northern light.

Here's an example, from the northern beaches of Sydney.

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It's hard to tell, but number 18, the home on the left, has a courtyard behind the garage. So the front of the home will be night filled.

While number 20, the home on the right, has a more traditional layout. The double garage will rob downstairs living areas of any northern light. Even upstairs, which has a large north facing window, will receive no direct sunshine, due to a large covered balcony. Not good.

Here's a satellite image of the two homes. Number 18 now towards the right.

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There are negatives to this approach. This courtyard separating the garage & home may be overlooked by the adjoining neighbours. Also it's a bit of a walk from the garage to the front door. Not good when carrying the groceries, a young child, or in the rain.

But this build is quite extreme example of a narrow build. As the frontage is only 7.5m.

So let's here more about your build.

Firstly, where are you located? Climate should have a very large effect on the design of a home. What's appropriate in Hobart it's certainly not appropriate in Cairns.

Tell me about this slope. This could have a great influence on what you can achieve. By your description it sounds like the land slopes down towards the south. If this is the case, & it's a steep slope, this could present even more challenges regarding access to northern light.