When a house for sale hasn't been council approved what happens when it is sold. Does the selling process alert council?
What is involved with having it approved? Costs etc? Can council order for it to be demolished?When you say that the house has not been approved, is it a new house (recently built)/additions or a house built say 30+ years ago?
In order to have the house approved you will probably need to submit a DA as well as have engineer certification of footings/structure and certification from a building certifier. This may involve destructive testing of footings to ensure that they have been built correctly, opening up of walls to reveal frames/flashings, removal of tiles to reveal waterproof membranes etc
By rights council can order the demolition of unapproved structures.
When all of the above is considered, will the place still be a bargain if you have to demolish and rebuild?
The house is 3 years old, owner builder. It is on a large acerage in the country. It doesnt matter to me that it's not approved as I am after the land not the house but I was concerned that when/if the sale goes through the council may somehow see it's not approved and want the approval done and concerned if it will turn into a heart ache I should avoid. The property is priced at land value only, so perhaps not a bargain but priced appropriately.
As it is an owner-builder, all the more reason to be wary. They will need to provide you with home owners warranty insurance (will be very difficult to get if there have been no approvals or inspections).
You would want to pay less than land value due to the risk of council demo order and the cost to demolish so that you would be in no worse a position had you bought a similar but vacant block.
Thanks for your help.
So what do you think it would cost to demoslish a 3 bed house or the costs to have approved. I'm wondering so I know what offer to put in on the property.
I guess the other thing that concerns me is that if I was to rent the house on the block out, would an unapproved home be insurable?
If you could insure it (I don't think the insurer would question whether it had been approved or not) then, if it burnt down you could lodge a legit DA and get it approved.
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