You will need some form of Council consent

Thanks

Hi Sharyn,

This sounds like a really great thing to be doing. I do have a few questions:

Where about are you? Will it be just you living in the redesigned space? How often might you have house guests or visitors? How much garden area will you be able to have as your private space?

Actually it would be much better to have a chat: then I can tell you about my skills in stepping through this sort of planning. I look forward to meeting you firstly over the phone and then hopefully in person!

Kind Regards,

Margot 0419 348 546

Hi Margot

I am in Brisbane. My husband and myself will live in this space. House guests and visitors would be minimal.

There is a small back garden off this room and a small work shed.

Please let me know if living in Brisbane poses a problem.

Thank you

Sharyn

Hi Sharyn,

Brisbane is no problem to me if we are happy with email, phone calls and the possibility of not meeting in person. That I am sad about but......

I guess the first thing to do is approach the council with plan of where you are, idea of what you want to do and a note pad. I suggest taking down the person's name first then writing down answers to questions..just as a record. You want to know what requirements are needed: how much private open space is required, how many car parks, (looks good in the picture there) what impact it will have on the rest of the house, etc. things like that.

Can you draw up a plan (if you don't have one) of the whole site, house, room, outdoor spaces, car parks with dimensions too: big ask but a start. If you like ring me.......

Kind Regards,

Margot

Thank you Margot I will start on that.

Regards

Granny flats can be troublesome. Small spaces can usually require quite a bit of mucking about.

Therefore seek professional designer to help you wade through the council and building codes as well as the layout. They should be able to give you some costings on it all from concept to completion. You can then make an informed decision on which way to go with the project.

Fire separation is one consideration, private open space for existing dwelling and granny flat, car parking, etc. even bringing the existing room up to current spec will need some work.

Thank you so much for your advice.

Sharyn, the Brisbane Home Show always has free 20 min sessions with an architect, builder etc (depending on who is most helpful to you). You pre-book it. Just subscribe to the home show emails. You can also call 34038888 at any time of day 7 days per week and the person will give you preliminary information about council requirements re granny flats. The council has pdf on this very thing. You can either google it or ask them to send it to you. During office hours, they will also transfer you to a town planner who help you for about 20 mins. I rang them the other day about something similar and the town planner I got was incredibly helpful. You can also check your zoning online under PD online/zoning maps or I think on the www.onthehouse.com.au website. It you are in Brisbane area and live low density residential block, then I believe you are able to have a granny flat of up to 80sqm. You can have up to 5 people of same household living on your block. I think it is a bit grey what same household means.

Than you so much for the info.

Brisbane City Council has information. Requirements are more stringent if wanting to rent out to someone not in your household (dual occupancy): https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/planning-and-building/planning-guidelines-and-tools/brisbane-city-plan-2014/fact-sheets/granny-flats

Than you Kimley very useful.

Sharyn - if you haven’t already, you might also want to consider potential tax impacts. Income tax and it may also impact on capital gains tax exemption for principal place of residence.

Thank you. Great points.

we built a granny flat that required all the usual standards for any home but some unexpected extras included a fire wall (under floor to roof ridge) and fire door between the original home and the separate space...we were also required to pay for an extra water allocation (despite not using any extra water) parking space, drying area and could have no line of sight between windows and private spaces in the separate dwellings ..i would have a conversation with the local council about the various options..do you want a space that is a separate dwelling, rentable to a stranger, completely self contained with it's own water and power or do you want a private space within a family home that could also be described as a rumpus room with it's own bathroom and motel style kitchenette..also check rules for B&B, guest house and student accommodation...sometime the rules depend on discovering the correct jargon to best suit your ideas and that's where an experienced professional can really help

From a different point of view. Are you holding onto a house that no longer fits you but you’re staying in it for sentimental reasons? There may be better solutions for you.

We want to downsize as we have a 4 bbedroom,2 bathroom house and it is just my husband and I living in it. In the area we live in it isn't financially viable for us to sell and buy something smaller. At the moment we need to stay in this area for work until hubby retires.

why not post a plan of the whole house and invite suggestions for downsizing in place