Another way of going about it is for the house plans being designed as a preliminary first, and get builder and building surveyor involved as early as practical best from post RFI stage.

100K is a huge bill! there wont be any profit left for you. Croydon is Yarra Ranges Council or are you in Maroondah. Each council has its own set of guidelines when it comes to approving a planning application for medium density. If the site has a veg overlay or a SLO you need to be mindful of trees. your site looks solveable. get a free opinion first before you jump in. I can help you there. Is it a GRZ or NRZ zone? I need the property address to help you

• This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by  #Planning Permit. Reason: typo

looks like a 13m wide frontage only zoning is gen res 1 which allows development but feel the narrow width ca be the challenge

I would like to help you reach your goals. Can you put the address on the forum so I can do my DD.

An old tired but in a great location and with potential to add value like a dual occ would be my choice. Reno the old tired home and sell to finance and develop in the rear yard.

Which state? In Vic VERY BALL PARK numbers depending on Council and zoning you may need to submit development plans for the two rear houses and then a subdivision into 3 lots- soft costs are around $25K ++

This is an issue I often see where the land owner does not fully understand the planning regulations and go to max out the site only to be disappointed later. Its best to take good advice upfront and not rely on the things like I see others have done it etc etc. theit historu might be different
Now to your point- a 3m variation in front setback is a lot- unless your suveyor can demonstrate the majority of homes have less than the 7.5m set back on the street- at least 65% should be the same as what you submitted. Get a redesign done-it should take 10 days. Landand EC is expensive. You need a top barrister or lawyer and budget for $10K plus- with no guarantee of success. If I were you go for a guaranteed outcome- be kind to the planner and respectfully do as told after all the planner is taking orders from above and its those orders which set the LEP and DCP.

You need a town planner and some one who can design your duplex or dual occ. Things to look out for are OSD, LEP minimum lot size- includes handle for battle axe to name a few. Which suburb are you developing in? Its more complex than Melbourne having done my first dual occ a while back which was equally difficult then as it can be now if you have heritage issues and objectors to handle. Leave alone a non co operative planning officer. Have pre app meetings before you start .

The same is happening in Victoria and NSW where property prices are driving young and old people to move into compact dwellings in well established areas.Another trend is retirees or about to retire persons subdividing to create an additional income stream from a dual occupancy.This is an exciting development which requires professional care and help to assist these people as a mistake can spell real problems. I know of a lady about to retire who subdivided her block in Victoria. She was unable to register for title as she ran out of funds to put in the services as required in the Permit. a builder seized on tgis opportunity. He put in the services- took the cost off the sale price and is nw building the rear unit. Both parties came out on top and I was extremely pleased to have helped the subdivion to occur- was challenging as the local council put up some resistance which i resolved through common sense.