Restrictions
Remove, or Vary, a Covenant
Many properties come with covenants that restrict what you can do with the site. Although you can try to Remove the Covenant you might have a better chance of success in getting a permit to vary it instead. A couple of…
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Stormwater Discharge Point
One check that is often forgotten when buying a house block in an established suburb is how storm water is removed from the site. Forty, or more, years ago when land was cheaper, it was not unusual for blocks to be…
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Onsite Stormwater Dention – Why
If you want to redevelop or subdivide an existing urban house block, you might find that a planning condition is that you will need to provide On-site Stormwater Detention (OSD). You may also find it is a condition on individual…
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Floor Space Ratio, or Plot Ratio
When you are buying a new house block it’s important you understand how much of the block you can build on! One way in which NSW councils prevent Over development is by prescribing a ‘Floor Space Ration’ (FSR). The same…
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Habitable Rooms
What is a Habitable Room? You see the phase in several planning and building documents with regard to things like Ceiling Height (see Room Height) and Overlooking. Well according to the Building Code of Australia (BCA) A Habitable Room is…
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Protecting Underground Pipes
One of the problems that happen all too often during a new house build is that Sewers and Drains get filled with concrete. Its normally happens on: A knock down and rebuild project where the sewer connection wasn’t sealed during…
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Buying a Block
anewhouse GUIDE – E book Aimed at making sure you consider a wide range of issues to ensure you get the right block for your new home! Posts from this Blog and Much More. In pdf format so you can read it on…
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What’s on the Nature Strip?
Don’t forget to have a look at the Footpath and Nature Strip! Often forgotten but what’s there can affect what you can do with the block, and general livability. Some of the things that can affect you are: Place of…
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Cubby House – Fail
What do you think of this Cubby House that someone built in their garden, soon after moving in? Well it looks pretty good…………………………. Solidly constructed building, nice colourful paint job, and securely bolted down to a convenient concrete slab. So why…
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Manhole
When I started in the drainage business 40 years ago we called them Manholes. Since then due to political correctness we have had; Person Holes, Access Points, Inspection Pits, but now we seem to be coming back to calling them…
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