Do we need permits when renovating a pre-existing house?

3 years ago

We've been offered a great opportunity to buy land from a family friend that has a pre-existing house already on it in an area that would otherwise be out of our budget.

The owner believes that, because there is already an old house on it, we won't need permission to fix it up. The house is an old farmhouse from the 1800's. It hasn't been lived in in over a century (I've attached an example of what it looks like, except it has a very straight chimney still attached unlike the example photo).

The foundations are blue stone rocks that the old joists rest on...so almost the whole thing needs pulling down just to get new foundations put in. We could keep the chimney though.

Considering no-one has lived in it for so long, do we still need to get permits? Would we need planning and/or building permits? We assumed we'd need at least a building permit. We're concerned about obtaining permits because it is zoned farmland and the council is known to be reluctant about giving out any permits to build on farmland.

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Comments (8)

dreamer
3 years ago
Approach the local council/shire, they are the only ones that can give you the correct requirements.
Without knowing your location, we would be guessing.
If you advise on location then a houzz person may have dealt with this area.
dreamer
3 years ago
Permits vary all over Australia.
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Thanks for the replies! My wife suggested we talk to a local real estate agent, so i think that is a good idea... just that Im not sure how helpful they are likely to be if we arent selling yet :) As for saving for our dream house, I dont disagree, however if doing this up nicely over the next ~5 years or so while we live here nets us some extra in the eventual sale, then that of course will help us as well. Interesting thing happened today actually. I got a knock on the door and one of the older neighbours asked if he could take some lemons from the tree. I of course said yes. Anyway he was telling me he had lived in the street for 40 years. I asked him if the house had always looked like this, and he said no that ~30 years ago the old old owner did a massive renovation and pulled off the timber and put up the bricks and gutted the inside of the house. Interesting stuff!
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Two things come to mind; -it is possible that there are two separate files and you have received only one. It may depend on the way the properties have been legally defined. Having two addresses is not necessarily the same as two legal titles. Check the type of title and whether it has been subdivided, cross leased etc. this should be on your title which you will have got a copy of when you purchased. If you do not know where that is, you can get a new copy from Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) for just a few dollars. I would also phone the council and ask them to check whether there is more than one file that could relate to your property. I think they would be helpful with that request. - this goes back to before the 1990s, when we got permits rather than Building Consents, and less information was required to be submitted. The older the files, the less complete they are likely to be.I would not expect to get complete information on work done in the 1960s, but you can hope for it.
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Kate
3 years ago
All structural alterations need building permits. Consult bit a local builder and council to get an idea of what you are getting into before you buy.
Sometimes if you knock down you may not be able to build again or in same spot. This depends on planning controls.
me me
3 years ago
You really will need to ask your local council.
User
3 years ago
I like winding up the upstarts -- I'd nail a few of those really cheap blue tarpaulins around the outside , take some photo's , and threaten to open it as a BnB unless they approve my application haha . Even if it doesn't work , its a good sport haha .
bigreader
3 years ago
There’s a lot of restrictions on building on rural land in my area. Don’t but until you’ve spoken to your local council. In reality, that house is a knock down.
oklouise
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
if you spend money building or renovating a property without specific building regulations guided by council approval and need to borrow money to pay for the land and/or the improvements and/or later want to sell you may find that you have wasted your money on illegal works that can't be mortgaged or sold for enough to recoup your investment.. talk to the council and you may find that you can do a legal renovation but the owner of the property will need to be involved in the discussion...the photo suggests that a similar house is not fit for habitation and probably needs to be demolished but you may find that you can build a whole new house around the existing structure quite legally if you obtain the correct information and development approval and.... if you can't obtain legal approval to build a home on the property why would you want the land?? so, don't do anything to the existing building until you have approval from the local council but make sure that you have all the necessary information when you speak to them...check council website for a checklist of what's required ...there's lots of different options for building including renovating the existing building or "dual occupancy rural dwelling" where you may be able to add a new house and keep the original building for another purpose but best way to identify suitable options is to discuss with council
fianou luca
3 years ago
It will vary from council to council. My local council usually recommends pencilling a time to see or ringing the guy who does all the permits and just talking it over before bothering filling in forms. My council prefers whatever options involves the least amount of paperwork so if it was my shire, you'd be quite alright to be just replacing new for old. they seem to want an application only if you are adding new windows, or extending the footprint. Sometimes the council website has a pdf guide that explains some stuff.

Do we need permits when renovating a pre-existing house?

Comments (8)

dreamer

dreamer

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me me

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