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Hi jamo.d – as an ex town planner (& current developer), I'll wear my town planning hat to try and answer your question. The Council….all Council's, in all states all operate under a planning scheme or Ordinance which sets out the relevant provisions for all types of developments whether it be residential, commercial, industrial and so on. For residential developments for example, there will be a residential code (which may have a different name in different states and under different planning schemes), which will set out the relevant requirements which need to be met. In some instances, there is discretion to vary the requirements and some clauses may be guidelines rather than actual conditions or requirements.
Now, in order to have any success with stopping a development, any objection you make must target a level of non-compliance with the regulations. So, it's no good just saying, there's already 10 blocks in the street with units. That is a statement of fact, but is not necessarily a reason to refuse a DA, unless the Council has a specific policy of unit to house ratios in place. Also, things like, "there will be an increase in traffic" is a statement of fact. All streets are designed to accommodate a certain number of vehicle trips per day, and while the development will increase traffic, if the level of traffic is still within the capacity the street can support (irrespective of whether it used to be a quiet little street for the past 20 years), then this argument will fail.
My suggestion is to employ a town planner to assess the plans for you and provide a check list of any technical areas of non compliance and then frame your objection based on this. Alternatively, familiarize yourself with the planning provisions so that you can do this for yourself.
Lobby groups and the like are a nuisance factor, but nothing else. If Council refuse a DA based purely on public pressure, Council knows full well it will succeed at the Planning Appeals Board anyway. Their refusal is only to appease the masses (for the short term). Once it gets to appeal no amount of placard waving and chanting will matter…..the DA is assessed purely and simply on its merits and compliance with the code.
Despite what you may think of Councils (and believe me, I'm one of their worst critics – that's why I left), from experience I can say that for Council to approve a DA it's covered off on every possible area of non compliance to ensure nothing comes back to haunt them.
Good luck
Worst case, go to Council & view the planning permit file. Ask Council if they can provide you with a copy of the plan (some will for a nominal fee). If not, note the name of the architect on the plans & contact them direct to purchase a copy of the plan.
Zonings are a system of development & land use regulations, & they are represented on a municipal map (planning scheme map) as different colors for different zones. For example, In Victoria pink designates a residential zone, brown is industrial, purple is commercial and so on. The various restrictions & requirements that apply for land uses within each zone appear in a planning scheme (the town planning bible) which every municipality has.
A title is, in essence, is a certificate of ownership of a property. It too can have various restrictions & covenants. For example, a covenant which states that only one dwelling can be constructed on a site would override any zoning provision which allows more than one dwelling on a site. However, a planning permit may be granted to remove a covenant subject to certain requirements.
When buying a residential property you need to consider what the zoning will or will not allow given your intended purpose for the site. This needs to be considered along with any overlay controls which exist over the zoning & whether the title has any further restrictions & covenants which may limit your intended purpose for the land.
Best advice is to speak to Council & a solicitor before buying.
For $10 you can do an online title search….or your conveyancer can do it for you.
Thanks Michael….I'll check them out.
Hi ladybird – I'm not from Perth but the process of evaluation is the same no matter which state you're in. You can do the assessments yourself with a little help from a real estate agent. The starting point is the value of your property as is stands. This value will provide the benchmark for which option you take.
So, let's say the property is valued at $500,000 then the best option you choose will be the one that makes the greatest profit over this $500,000 base. For example, obtaining DA for 4 townhouses may add 20% to the value making the site worth $600,000. Or retaining the house and subdividing the rear – the existing house will now be worth less as its on a smaller allotment (say $400,000) but the 2 rear lots may be worth $150,000 each making the whole site worth $700,000.
My suggestion is to list each option you want then invite an agent to appraise your property and run through the figures you can expect from each option.
Good luck
I'm certainly no expert in this field, but I think if you've had an investment property longer than 12 months you pay CGT on 50% of the capital gain, as opposed to 100% if you sell within 12 months. Also, as you lived in the property for 1 year I think the CGT is calculated on the time it was used to derive a profit (leased), which means that of the 220K CG of the property a valuation may be needed to determine what proportion of this CG occurred while you lived there and then deduct this amount from the calculation. For example, you've had the property for 6 years with a CG of 220K – lets assume it was a steady incremental rise each year (for the purpose of this example), then the CG for each year is $36,666. Deduct this from the one year you lived there and the CG over the investment term (5 years) is $183,333. CG applies to 50% of this, which makes it $91,666. This is the amount which is used to calculate the CG based on your nominal tax rate. So if your tax rate is, say, 48% then your CG bill would be about $44,000.
Again, I'm no expert but I think it works something like this.
Good luck
Hi Jman – a prescribed easement, while not common, does exist in some instances. It's an easement necessary to provide passage for or provision of a service over land or buildings. To the best of my knowledge there must still be a reference to the existence of the easement, but it is specified in words, not dimensions, in a plan of subdivision or title.
I would have your conveyancer check the title and/or plan of subdivision (which may be very old), as well as the contract you signed, to ensure that some reference to it exists. Obviously, the regulations relating to implied easements may vary from state to state and I don't know which state you're in, but I would imagine that the case law and common law practice would be similar (if not identical) in all states.
It may be an idea for you to check the contract yourself too, because if the conveyancer missed seeing some reference to it then you may have a case against him.
Hope this helps and good luck.
Hi Boshie
Why would you go to a developer and thus introduce an extra party into the dealings. You would develop the properties yourselves. Set out a joint agreement between the parties concerned that the costs of getting permits and subdivisions etc is shared…., then each party pays for the construction of their own townhouse (through the one builder of course).
You can engage a town planning consultant to run the application through Council (who in many cases can also arrange an architect), or you can also independently engage an architect who will run the application either solely or in conjunction with a town planner they use. Once the permits are issued you would tender the build to various builders. If you build your own and live in it, there's no stamp duty.
If I lived in Sydney I'd take you up on your offer and develop them for you.
Hi Joseph – please clarify what you mean. I work in the field of property development but couldn't quite understand what you were asking.
James – the regs may differ depending on what state you're in. In Victoria in order to subdivide the property you'll need to engage a land surveyor who will prepare a plan of subdivision (no such thing as strata in Vic). He will then apply for a planning permit to subdivide the property whilst simultaneously lodging the plan for certification. The application will be referred by the Council to a number of authorities (water, drainage, electricity etc….) who may impose certain works, requirements or fees to be paid. Once the requirements of the relevant authorities have been satisfied the Council can issue a Statement of Compliance which is then lodged with the Titles office. New titles will then be issued.
Hope this helps
