Small Lot Subdivisions (2 to 5 lots) What Challenges are you facing?

Hi Michael,

I do small sub divisions here in SA,in good growth rural areas.At present we are in the process of dividing a house on 4850sm,down to a house on 1000sm,then community title the remaining land into 5 X 5 housing blocks with the rest being common land.
The difficulty i have experienced is you do the due dilligence with council and surveyers etc on possible conditions before you buy the land,then once development approval is obtained once you purchase the land,the conditions included have been added in after you have queried certain things.As an example we were told the entry/exit point would not entail a sealed road,a gravel point would be acceptable,now one of the conditions they want is a sealed road,which probably need the services from the road points down to the blocks,this wasnt in our original costing,what are we supposed to do here?we are obtaining civil quotes but they may make the project unprofitable.We could revert to dividing into 2 hammerheads instead,but im not sure being a private driveway(2) would require the same civil costs.Look forward to your thoughts

Jim

We are seeing a lot of small lot proposals of late, and it seems to be an emerging niche. Densities are being reconsidered and suburban properties are being looked at quite differently to say five years ago. In positioning ourselves as Small Lot Specialists we have given some thought to what in fact constitutes a small lot. And the answer varies according to context.

Right now we have several proposals of three or four dwellings on 400m2 or thereabouts in front of council, and generally speaking these are being positively received and higher densities encouraged.

The smallest lot we are working on is a proposal for 15 dwellings on 120m2 in the CBD.
We are also working on a two lot subdivision on 240m2 in the inner suburbs.

Success in smaller lot proposals seems to be at least partially driven by typologies. What we are seeing is an emerging type – the "apartment house" – that is a hybrid dwelling with larger than usual balcony spaces, but not necessarily any private open space at ground level. This is a very flexible approach that requires a sound understanding of the planning scheme and the stress points for this type of application.

As Jim points out, the costs of providing services (civil engineering) to larger lots is expensive, and unless the land is valuable enough the costs don't always add up. You have probably already considered it Jim, but is it possible to get each lot directly accessing the existing road?

councils frustrate the livin daylights out of me.

Jim,

You could also consider increasing the density and yield by using a "design led" application for development and subdivision. This costs a little more in planning but will almost certainly be more profitable.

What it means is that you need to put some work into describing how the land will be used. This might be as simple as nominated building footprints or as complex as full design documentation for each proposed lot.

Jim,

Regardless of the planning device, there are often ways to improve the yield (or otherwise improve the outcome) by working with the municipal authorities to come up with a solution that makes the proposal commercially viable and provides a positive outcome for the council at the same time.