Illegal Garage etc

hi Markymark,
You could obtain a plan of the lot (of land) that you are interested in. Check if any permanent buildings are built over any easements. Check with the local council on what buildings they require a building permit for, and whether the buildings on your property have had permits issued for their construction.
If there appears to be a problem with illegal buildings, the local council should be able to assist you with what options you have.
Cheers,
Sue []

“Be careful not to step on the flowers when you’re reaching for the stars”

G’Day Markymark

You could do a number of things.
1st have a building inspection by a registered person, cost $200-$250. They will know legals and council building laws. They will inform you of repairs that need to be made.
2nd find a friend or friend of a friend who is a builder and they will be able to inform you of repairs. A good builder will do the same job as the guy in situation 1.
3rd As Sue has mentioned go to council and get building guidelines, street plan, lot plan. Most councils in Sydney have them on their web sites.

Finally, once you have identified the illegl aspects of the gaurge, acertain how much it would cost to fix and have the guarge bought up to correct standard. As the purchaser you can then negotiate a price on the property minus the repairs and a bit more for your time and heart ache. “Get a building inspection”

Best wishes

Creative Finance

It’s one of those nightmares that comes up all too often.

Multi-fuel burners in NZ are often illegal and what it means is if there’s a fire and the fireplace didn’t hav a permit (i.e. illegal) or wasn’t code-compliant (i.e. illegal) then the insurance has a reason to not pay out if the fire was caused by that.

It’s also garages. Often people just whack up garages over the boundary lines or on right of ways or without permits. Not to mention extensions on their houses!!

I know people in Auckland who put in a flat downstairs and didn’t get an architect, any permission or anything. Hopeless if they want to sell and the purchasers get a council report and builder’s report.

I always and unequivocally get both when I put in an offer.

how I dealt with the problem of finding an illegal fireplace was to rip it out and put a new one in ($2500). (This is of course properties in areas where fireplaces are a necessity for tenants.)

How i dealt with the problem of the property with the ilegal garage over the boundary and right of way is pulled out of the deal. i.e. didn’t go unconditional, as my conditions were not met. (wasn’t the only reason, there were other things wrong with it too, from the builder’s report. at least i only wasted 500 bucks, not 60 thousand.)

you can try and negotiate a lower price but four times out of five the vendors don’t go for it. (one out of five times they do….)

Most people don’t bother and i think they should soooo bother.

cheers-
Mini

Presumably you can get the plans etc. from the council which will include any approved buildings. If they’re not on the plan, they’re probably not approved.

If it’s going to be an IP, I would seriously investigate whether or not they would be approved. Insurance certainly won’t cover you if something happens to the tenant in the unapproved structure.

If it is for your PPOR, then it isn’t such a big issue, as long as it is structurally sound.

Cheers
Mel