Browse Forums Building A New House 1 Sep 15, 2021 8:29 pm Hi, We currently live in a old house, we want to do a knockdown and rebuild 2 houses on the same block. Seeking advice on what is the best way to do considering best use of land and budget. We want to live in one house and other one is for investment. We want to keep larger portion of the land to us and the investment house can be a single garage 3 bed small house. Every one in my street has done a knockdown and build 2 houses, only few old houses are left. If we build single house, probably it may become a problem if we want to sell it in the future. Our street is 1.2 kms away from town center, not super busy but a main Street in the suburb. block details :- RZ2 , 812 sq mtrs and street frontage is 21. We are very confused between whether to build the houses side by side(with Party wall or some space say1.5 mtrs in-between) OR one behind the other. When spoken to multiple architects, each one is saying differently. Also architects are not clear on the council rules around plot ratio's, side setbacks and unit title vs subdivision(separate title). Appreciate if someone who has knowledge on Canberra RZ2 zoned blocks rules, can clarify on some of the questions that I have below 1) can we split the blocks horizontally? or only vertical is allowed? Is Subdivision and separate title (Not Unit title) possible in both the split options ? 2) If we subdivide the blocks say 490 sq mtrs and 322 sq mtrs, both being less than 500 sq mtrs, will this relax us the rule of plot ratio ? In general the rule says if building side by side we can use 50 % plot ratio, if we build one behind the other it is 35 %. However, if the blocks are subdivided and each block is less than 500 mtrs like I mentioned above, will it allow us to go above 35 % or 50 % in the scenario's of side by side / one behind the other ? 3) Does this 35% plot ratio when building one behind the other, apply only to unit titled blocks and not for subdivided separate titled blocks ? 4) when we build side by side, what are the side setbacks that we need to leave? And does the setbacks differ based on subdivide(separate tile) vs Unit title 5) As per ACT planning doc(Multi unit doc), 3.5 R9 , it says plot ratio can be 65 % , when does this scenario apply? 6) There is a walkway on one side of the house, does this mean we need to leave more or less setback mandatorily on that side of the house ? 7) From realestate point of view, people who buy single large houses, do they prefer to buy on a quiet inner streets of a suburb ? Or not really and there will be people interested to buy even if the street is a Main Street in the suburb because of it proximity to towncenter and mainroads ? Re: Canberra - RZ2 - KDR - two houses 2Sep 16, 2021 2:25 pm Sorry I can't help with most of your questions. It's better to find a designer/architect who is very familiar with the local council's planning requirements. For a real estate point of view, I agree that you are better off to build units on that land. It's close to town centre and all other lands all have multiple units now. For a land of 812sqm, building two units either side-by-side or back & front will be nice. You don't even need to compromise the "investment" one. Equally divided 400sqm for each unit will give you a very comfortable house. I've seen people building luxury provincial house on a land of 400sqm. In some councils, they even allow 3 units on a land of 800sqm. Wow I hadn't realised things had gotten that pricey in just a couple of years since I built, that is crazy with how much land is now costing if you aren't lucky enough to… 3 7105 We were lucky in that our old house was so small (86 square metres) compared to the new house, they were able to take enough readings around the old backyard house before… 8 37142 The biggest challenge will be if you take out a loan and then run out of money - you'll have an incomplete security and lenders do not like this so you can get stuck.… 2 19097 |