Brisbane city council - dual occupancy

Hi all.

I read old somersoft posts and it seems brisbane city council doesnt like dual occupancy. So is it possible to find dual occ properties and if so does it need some approval before you can rent both out?
If so are they generally queenslander homes where top floor amd bottom floors are separated?

Apologies sydneysider here so have no idea.

Thanks

 

I am not the most knowledgable with Brisbane, however Brisbane does not allow for house and granny flats to be rented to seperate tenants whilst Logan and Ipswich Councils do. It either has to a be duplex, boarding house, or something along those lines to have multiple, LEGAL tenants. You can buy the highset homes and if they are over 2.32m to the bottom of the rafter, a private certifier may push it and make it legal and you can split the top and bottom as two floors. Most are only 2.3m to bottom of the rafter and the cost of raising it makes the investment non-viable.

I would caution building granny flats during this period with the APRA rullings. You will quickly loose capital for relatively little cashflow.

I don't know Ipswich very well, however in Logan if the land is over 1000sqm you can build a 100 sqm granny flat. If it is UNDER 1000sqm you can build a 70 sqm granny flat. This does not include storage space, patios or garages from my understanding.

 

Just Ipswich, Logan and soon to be Moreton Bay LGA's.

Everyone renting out granny flat's in the Brisbane council area are doing so illegally and claiming insurance may be an issue if ever anything happened.

 

And soon Redlands city too fingers crossed...

 

No dual occs allowed at all in Brisbane council at this stage. Lots of landlords dong it, but I wouldn't be risking it as the council is actively seeking out illegal dual occs at present.

 

Is this in the MBRC new draft planning? I am not seeing this been mentioned anywhere. If it's not, I would think it won't be in next 10 years or so, until next new planning, unless its a QLD state wide policy, similar to NSW SEPP.

 

It's in the new MBRC new draft plans. Have a closer look.

 

The draft Moreton Bay Planning Scheme is now back on public display and taking additional submissions until 21 August 2015 (https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/subsite.aspx?id=4294969501).


Once consultation is complete, it will go back to the State for final approval, and then the Council will adopt the scheme. Council is hopeful that the scheme will be gazetted by the end of this year, however, I would not be surprised if it pushes out to early 2016.


In respect to secondary dwellings, all residential areas will be allowed to construct a secondary dwelling providing it complies with the self-assessable provisions of the Dwelling House Code.


Each site will need to be assessed individually as the setbacks and site cover changes depending on the precinct the site is located in.


The specific requirements for the secondary dwelling are:


·The secondary dwelling must be located behind the primary dwelling

·Annexed to, or within 10m of, the primary dwelling

·No more than 1 secondary dwelling per lot

·GFA of the secondary dwelling is:

o45m2 for a lot with a primary frontage of 15m or less

o55m2 for a lot with a primary frontage greater than 15m

·If parking is to be provided for the secondary dwelling, it is to be co-located with the primary dwelling


If you don’t comply with the self-assessable provisions, a limited code assessment will be required.


Remember that overlays can also trigger DAs.



Cheers


Chris

 

What would the penalty be for renting a granny flat separately? Has BCC been penalising anyone for this?

I'm currently living in a gf rented separately from the main house with my girlfriend. We're moving out shortly and she expects REA to keep all or most of her bond. The house is immaculate so I don't imagine they will have any reason to.

But if they do try to rip us off its good to know we do have an ace up our sleeve.

Cheers,
Clint.

 

Why think like that,if it's within the BCC control area and a few rea know the rules, then you could put them on the "BBQ" Plate real quick from so many different angles ,never ever get scared of taking something when you stand your ground to it's logical conclusion..and btw the BCC take this very serious from fire safety upwards..

 

Thanks for the info guys, very informative.

 

Thanks for the info Chris,
Ipswich allows 50m2,
LCC allows 70m2 (100m2 if >1000m2 land)
NSW State allows 60m2
MBRC allows 55m2
Perth allows 70m2??

I have 2 of these 60m2 in NSW. some say too small, some say it's just right.
My view, is the 55m2 is too small for 2 bed. It's probably best for 1 bed + study, or just 1 bed.
45m2 is def 1 bed..
Is the yield for 1 bed worth building may be the question to ask.

 

Great breakdown. I agree with your 1 bed granny flat comment.

Another question to add. Is the construction of a granny flat in a new market where the banks wouldn't know how to value it during a period where APRA is being highly restrictive of investor lending a good investment?

 

Correct, they have sent out letters to people, actively conduct inspections on properties etc...
I know of a place that was 3 bedrooms upstairs, 2 separate 1 bedrooms downstairs, which got shut down by BCC.

 

If it is pre Cityplan 2000 then it may be an existing lawful use.

We are in court constantly on these things. Landlord gets an enforcement notice making them rent as one household group. If they don't then fines are daily. I have clients get raided by 2 police, 2 council officers, locksmith and electrician purely on suspicion of renting separately. Magistrate signs of entry warrant on basis of fire safety.

Lease would likely be unenforceable so QCAT member may allow you to move out with no break costs. But if damage was genuine might be a different story.

 

Thanks for you time to post those facts,plus I did not know the fine was per day,and the cost factor from the Police down too the Locksmith down would spin the bank balance backwards real quick..,i learn something everyday in this site..thanks..

 

I'm trying to read up on this :-

, as my buyer's agent is trying to propose that I purchase a house of this nature, already set up for dual occupancy, as a form of investment property. Having read this thread, I'm starting to get quite worried about this proposal.

Can anyone let me know whereabouts on the BCC website (or other site) I can read the exact details on this? I've tried looking, and I just keep getting bounced between two documents about dual occupancy as different buildings on the same lot, or as duplexs, but can't find anything definitive about the inability to rent the one, split house, as 2 separate units, to different tenants.

If I'm going to discuss this with my agent, I'd like to have an actual document to refer to, to support what I've read on here.

Thanks, in advance.

 

Why not just make a appointment with "RPI", it may well save you a lot of money in the short term and make you money long term..

 

Ok Willair, I'm going to have to plead ignorance (I'm still new to this, and in a total brain fog........) - "RPI"?

 

No problem just look back at post no 15,then read everything this Man posts ,some of those posts are priceless and free.
http://www.certuslegal.com.au/