Colin Fragar, our founder and CEO, shares what makes dual occupancy a better choice than a granny flat.
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Or for those that prefer to read, here is a transcript of the video…
Hi, today I want to talk to you about granny flats, dual occupancies, and the possibility of subdividing. My name is Colin Fragar. I’m the general manager of Fragar Planning and Development.
When I helped write the best selling book Secrets of Property Millionaires Exposed, we interviewed a bunch of successful property investors in Australia. One thing that came out through that book was that you need to do your due diligence properly. And part of doing your due diligence is working out what the maximum potential of a property is.
Why a Dual Occupancy is Better
Now, if you’re watching this video, it’s probably because you’re interested in granny flats, particularly if you’re in New South Wales with the legislation. There’s a lot of talk about maximizing your property’s potential, maximizing the rental yield, by building a granny flat in the backyard. However, what most people have not thought about are dual occupancies.Although I’m a big fan of granny flats, sometimes they’re not the best highest possible use of your land. Let me run through a few details.
First of all, granny flats are usually restricted to 60 square meter floor area. Sixty square meters is a usable area, but if you could go larger you probably would.
The second, granny flats can never be subdivided. So you can never actually separate that second dwelling if it’s detached and sell it off. And, therefore, pay off your mortgage on the principal dwelling.
Because an 80 square metre dwelling was built instead of a 60 square metre one or, in other words, a dual occupancy instead of a granny flat the rental potential of this property was maximized. But what I’m particularly excited about is that we’re also able to get a subdivision approved.
Subdivision of a Dual Occupancy
How does that work? When we do a preliminary planning assessment by our expert team on your property we look at, not only whether a granny flat is possible, but whether a dual occupancy Subdivision is possible.Now let me explain. Subdivision rules usually specify the minimum lot size and, if you’re in a suburban area, chances are that you won’t comply, meaning that you won’t be able to subdivide your property. However, a subdivision dual occupancy allows you to depart from that minimum lot size. It’s one of those planning loopholes that we’d love at the Council Approval Experts.
Even if you can’t get a subdivision of a dual occupancy, a dual occupancy is always better than a granny flat in my belief because you can get a larger dwelling. Now there’s obviously a few considerations and concerns and planning loopholes and planning rules that you need to work around. One of them is privacy. You might also have to consider things like whether you go strata title subdivision or Torrens title subdivision. You might have to consider car parking. There’ll obviously be issues about height restrictions and what really is the maximum size house that you can get as that dual occupancy.
If our expert team can find a way for you to do a Dual Occupancy Subdivision, you’ll add hundreds of thousands of dollars more in value to your property than what a simple 60 square meter granny flat would.
Let Us Help You
I hope that I’ve given you a few ideas about what we can do with your property. Please take from this, if nothing else, that there are opportunities that our expert team will see in your property that you might not see. And even if you see them, we’ll be able to verify what your conclusions might have already been.I really hope that you can see the potential of a dual occupancy and also see that when you weigh the cost of our services against the value that we would add to your property, it’s like peanuts. I really hope you can give us a call and we look forward to working with you soon.
If you’re ready to maximise the development potential of your property book in your consultation. We are ready to help.