Need help. Cheapest council-legal dwelling?

[PeterFD]

Hi DJ

I don’t know anything about the by-laws in Australia, however your need to put a roof over the heads of your family, and your preference for an ecological solution struck something of a cord.

Here in France we have some pretty tough rules and regulations, however I was reminded of one family that achieved exactly what you are trying to achieve and ended-up with a grant to help complete the work.

Essentially, they installed a Yourte for their family, adapted to provide a small shower, toilet etc. Not only that, they installed the Yourte on land owned by the local commune.

The law concerning such matters moves very slowly here in France, unlike public interest which soon reached the local population, the local press, and eventually the national press.

It is interesting to note that the emphasis was always on ecological housing, low energy, protecting the environment etc,.

Towards the end of last year, with a couple of inches of snow on the ground, the family and their Yourte were visited by the French Minister for Ecology who gave her full support for the installation.

The last I heard there were several Yourte’s installed and a log cabin – all with the blessing of the French government.

Perhaps one of those occasions when the problem became the solution?

From the answer’s you’ve received so far, it would appear that you may well face problems whatever you do.

So, how radical are you feeling???

Very best of luck,

PeterFD

[gardenlen]

if in qld, keep in mind the $10k home builders grant, by the end of april one needs to have a contract to build going, and by then end of august if not finished be able to fill in form of intent to claim the grant.

len

[Lumbuck Thornton]

Check your title to see if there are restrictions put on by the developer at the subdivisions stage. There may be easements and roads you have to watch out for. There could be restricted areas for buildings (building envelopes) already specified on the title and similar limitations for where wastewater systems go - particularly if you are in a drinking water catchment. Town Planning has restricted new buildings on agricultural land in some areas to stop sprawl, interference with viable farming and excessive land costs for agriculture.

How large is your shed? Could the shed be used to store a shelter you move around your garden for best solar aspect. It would only need to be in the shed when you are not there, at night or during rain. This might get around the need for a permit - its on wheels. It would make good use of the garden during hot times. The shed can stay a shed with no windows needed or other alterations that might cause problems or need approvals. If there was room for bedrooms in the shed as well then they would not need any windows - you close your eyes when asleep. Most of your time is spent out in the garden or in your moveable sun shelter. Just put the toilet etc in the shed unless you are going compost.

I have been trying to work out the lowest cost comfortable shelter for a human and the cheapest ones would probably be renovated cars or really light framed units that rely on the shed or shade tunnel when it is windy.

Just a thought at this stage. See my albums and other threads for more details.
It might help fill the gap or just be temporary but my guess is that this will start growing on people.

[ecodharmamark]

G'day DJ

In every instance prior to constructing a (legal) dwelling in Australia, one must first ensure that there are no statutory planning restrictions in place. You mention in your situation that there is a BMO (Bushfire Management Overlay) affecting the site, but fail to mention the zoning or size of the land. The latter may prove to be prohibitive, too. Of course, it may be that the site you have chosen is free from any planning restriction at all, and that you are indeed able to (legally) commence construction. Either way, if you need a hand interpreting your local government Planning Scheme, please feel free to contact me for some free advice.

Concerning the dwelling you may eventually build/place on site: In Australia, all (legal) dwellings must meet with the standards of the BCA (Building Code of Australia). The BCA sets the required construction standards for all domestic structures in Australia. In the case of a dwelling, this structure is known as Class 1a building. A shed, on the other hand, is known as a Class 10a structure, and as you can imagine, there is a big difference between the two in terms of building requirements (standards of construction). Furthermore, should you indeed wish to build/place your proposed dwelling on land affected by a BMO, then you are going to have to ensure it meets further (BCA) standards.

One very cheap dwelling option (relatively speaking), is to purchase an older-style school portable building, shift it to your site, and retrofit it to meet Class 1a objectives and standards. These types of structures can often be bought for around $5,000. Some people buy two or three of them, 'join' them together in a modular-type fashion, and end up with a very comfortable dwelling.

I hope the above has been of some help to you, and once again, please let me know if I can be of any further assistance with your statutory planning requirements.

Cheerio, Markos.

[Mudman]

Build yourself a small strawbale cottage, 4 walls and a roof, use the earth on your land for the render and floor, tin roof.
Build a small out building for wet area stuff.
With the 5 of you working you could finish really quick.
Strawbale is also a bush fire approved material.
Have a look what they did in Mexico, used local materials and built basic but beautiful houses for $500
http://www.caneloproject.com/about-us/
All the best
Kurt

[gardenlen]

yes before you take charge of the property, have your legal do all sorts of searches with council and gov planning and with major utility co's that they don't have corridors through you property if there are those high power lines there is a distance corridor from them that you can't build in, your solicitor will check for covenants and what building code restrictions there may be, also check with local enviro dept. see what preservation restrictions they may have with certain habitat, also in the time before going unconditional that time as long as you want we go fro 21 days with the option to extend, do your soil tests for toilet and building here they cost just short of $1k.

no matter how romantic in the end you can only build and live in the type of dwelling the council approves. anything out of the mold adds to costs and delays.

up here we have the due diligence clauses all we need to do is add that to the contract before we sign this allows for an out and using it means you don't need to add lots of clauses.

anyhow this time around our shed house is nearing final time. they approved everything we wanted including we had asked soil engineer to submit septic plan.

len

[jeremy]

here's some cheap, green earthbag house designs. http://www.earthbagbuilding.com/plans/plans.htm

[DJ-Studd]

In every instance prior to constructing a (legal) dwelling in Australia, one must first ensure that there are no statutory planning restrictions in place. You mention in your situation that there is a BMO (Bushfire Management Overlay) affecting the site, but fail to mention the zoning or size of the land. The latter may prove to be prohibitive, too. Of course, it may be that the site you have chosen is free from any planning restriction at all, and that you are indeed able to (legally) commence construction. Either way, if you need a hand interpreting your local government Planning Scheme, please feel free to contact me for some free advice.

One very cheap dwelling option (relatively speaking), is to purchase an older-style school portable building, shift it to your site, and retrofit it to meet Class 1a objectives and standards. These types of structures can often be bought for around $5,000. Some people buy two or three of them, 'join' them together in a modular-type fashion, and end up with a very comfortable dwelling.

Hi Markos,
thank you for your reply; I always find your posts on here to be most informative.

The property in question has a number of titles, with one title being in excess of 40ha and zoned farming (FZ).

We are looking seriously at a used school portable at the moment, as per your suggestion.

The property is located within the Mt Alexander shire. Are you able to perform a BAL assessment, or alternatively would you be able to recommend somebody who can?

Will be in touch, thank you.

[DJ-Studd]

Build yourself a small strawbale cottage, 4 walls and a roof, use the earth on your land for the render and floor, tin roof.
Build a small out building for wet area stuff.
With the 5 of you working you could finish really quick.
Strawbale is also a bush fire approved material.
Have a look what they did in Mexico, used local materials and built basic but beautiful houses for $500
http://www.caneloproject.com/about-us/
All the best
Kurt

Hi Kurt,
thanks for your reply. This is exactly what I was planning on doing. The problem however is council approval. The upside with a portable classroom is that it is not a permanent structure, so in theory fewer permits etc are required. We do not require a planning permit for a dwelling on our property, but would require building permits, bushfire permits etc. The downsides of course with the portable is cost and a lack of insulation.
We'd like to build a decent sized (low rainfall, need area for water capture) straw bale dwelling in years down the track, but for now the priority is a cheap and habitable shelter.

Hooroo.

[eco4560]

Maybe you could put a layer of straw bale and cob around the outside of the portable class room?