Hi, I’m John from Home Building Advisor and I have worked as client side project manager and licensed builder for over 20 years. My mission is to help people successfully navigate through the complex world of home building and get things done right, the first time. I review home designs, prepare tenders and provide construction solutions on a daily basis. I have outlined some key principles that you can use as a guide when you’re planning and designing your new home or renovation in Sydney’s Inner West, Eastern Suburbs, Northern Beaches, Inner City, South Sydney (Bayside Council) and North Shore. The design principles also apply to other Sydney Metropolitan areas, but it is important to apply them on a case by case basis. My expert guide offers valuable insight when planning, designing and building your custom new home or renovation. It will teach you the ins and outs of the process and things to look out for to avoid any costly mistakes.”
Part 1
Planning considerations before you build or renovate
Before embarking on a new home build or home renovation journey, you need to assess the specific attributes relating to your individual block of land and council within which you reside. The term “planning” relates to the phase before you start developing the design for your home. Here are the 8 primary considerations during the planning stage of your new home build or custom home alteration and addition that will ensure you get it right and avoid any potential pitfalls during the design and construction phase of the journey.
1. Feasibility & Purpose – Investment Gain vs Build to live
When planning to build or renovate, your purpose should be established and be clear in your mind. The two aren’t mutually exclusive and with the right guidance, you typically achieve both. Your purpose will help you identify your priorities and how best to spend your money at an early stage of the planning process. If your building for profit or capital value gain, you need to be prudent with how you design in order to ensure a practical and affordable build. If your building or renovating to suit your lifestyle or living requirements, then you need to think about a large number of factors that an architect would ask in a “Design Questionnaire” to determine your needs and wants for your home design or renovation. We’ll go into more of that in the home design guide below. Let’s delve into the practical considerations of your block of land or existing home.
2. Council zoning and planning impacts
In order to build or renovate your home in Sydney, you will need approval from your local council. Local councils within Sydney use what is called a Local Environmental Plan (LEP) to provide a framework that guides planning decisions through zoning and development controls. The LEP determines how the land can be used. The Development Control Plan (DCP) sets the detailed design guidelines that Councils use to support the planning controls in the local environmental plans. It establishes permissible maximum building heights, minimum setbacks, floor space ratio’s and other design parameters.
You can obtain a Planning Certificate from your Councils website that provides details on the zoning classification, applicable rules that you need to design to and any items that may impact the land. Zoning specifies the permissible types of structures on the land, such as a single house, duplex, block of units, or commercial building.
The Certificate is known as the Section 10.7 Part 2 & 5. The Part 2 certificate contains relevant planning information such as land zoning, complying development, heritage, bush fire, geotechnical & flooding risk and other required matters.
The combined Part 2 & 5 certificate contains the above information as well as planning information that Council is aware of. This may include environmental constraints or other matters that Council considers relevant to the affected property.
3. Council Development Approval or Complying Development Consent (CDC) Process
It is possible to carry out a range of building projects without having to lodge a development application (DA) through your local council. As a fast track alternative for straight forward residential development, you may opt to use the state wide exempt and complying development codes and obtain approval via CDC. This approach is typically faster than a DA process at council.
Projects that may be undertaken include new housing up to 2 storey’s, renovations to houses, dual occupancies, commercial and industrial projects, and a range of smaller projects like swimming pools and fences.
Under a CDC, your home plans are designed in accordance with the State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP Codes) and area assessed by a Principal Certifying Authority (PCA).
4. Site Coverage and Boundary Set-backs
Typically, most councils in Sydney enforce a maximum site coverage of 50% with an upward sliding scale for blocks that are smaller than 500m2. Site coverage is maximum area available for existing plus new construction. If for example, your block is 400m2 in size and maximum site coverage is 55%, then the permissible total footprint would be 220m2. A good architect would know how to maximise your build footprint. The size of the land becomes a crucial factor in determining the maximum footprint of the new house.
Additionally, understanding the land’s frontage and setbacks is essential. Frontage refers to the width of the property’s front, a critical consideration as your new home or extended rooms must fit within this frontage, plus a designated buffer. Setbacks establish the minimum distance required between your land’s boundary and the new construction. If, for example, the front setback is 5 meters, this signifies the closest point at which you can commence building your home from the front boundary. This principle applies similarly to side and rear boundaries.
When deciding to renovate or build new, one important consideration is to assess the existing coverage as well current setback requirement under your councils’ guidelines. Existing homes within Sydney’s Inner West, Inner City and parts of the Eastern suburbs have typically little or no set-backs (side). If you are designing for a new home, alteration or second storey addition, you need to consider whether by knocking down an existing portion of your home, will you be forced to re-build the new wall further back from the front boundary or further away from the side boundary.
5. Sewer, easements, covenants & restrictions on title
It is vital to obtain a Sewer Service diagram from Sydney Water to determine the location of your existing sewer and the point of discharge to the sewer main. In Sydney’s established higher density areas with attached or semi-detached terrace style buildings built pre-1950’s it is not uncommon for individual dwellings across multiple titles sharing a common sewer line. This means that if a Sydney Water sewer main runs through your property, you cannot just simply remove or build over it.
It is equally important to check your property’s certificate of title see if there are any easements or covenants affecting the land. Easements place restrictions on which areas of the land can be built on and covenants may impact the specific building and design requirements for the new house. Eg. There may be a drainage easement that requires you to allow your neighbour upstream the “benefit” of using the existing drainage that runs through your property. You’ll also need to consider any power lines that may run on or close to your property. In most new subdivided areas within Sydney, mains power is run underground across the front of your property. If there is electrical infrastructure near or on your property such as powerlines, power polls, substations, padmount transformers, then you would need to understand the relevant regulations and guidelines before designing and building.
6. Land orientation
Land Orientation is the first important factor for you consider when designing your home. In home design and planning, land orientation is considered in order to determine how the rooms within your home can potentially be positioned relative to the surrounding environment, sun and weather. It takes into consideration the suns path in different seasons and prevailing wind patterns. In short, the sun rises in the East, sets in the West, is higher in the sky during Summer than in Winter months. We also need to remember the cool Southerly breezes we’re exposed to.
Good internal room and window orientation helps take advantage of passive heating in cooler months and allows cool breezes warmer months.
In Sydney, the most favourable land orientation is for the rear of the property to face North or North West as typically, the living and alfresco areas tend to be positioned towards the rear of the home. Your architect should assess that your design maximises solar access to living areas and private open space.
Across Sydney’s already built environment as well as within the new land subdivisions, it isn’t always possible to have your living areas facing the North or North West. This is when a good home design architect is needed to apply more design creativity to make every room in the home comfortable with good access to light and ventilation.
7. Slope of the land
Many properties exhibit some degree of slope, and this can significantly impact the design of your new home or addition. Generally, land sloping down from the street toward the new home is less than ideal. This is due to the potential for surface drainage and stormwater to flow toward the front of the house, often necessitating additional drainage measures for sustainable property management. Similarly, entirely flat land may require supplementary drainage works around the new house’s perimeter to ensure you have adequate surface and garden drainage.
A steep sloping block however, to the savvy designer can also provide some extremely valuable design opportunities that you wouldn’t otherwise have on a flat block. For instance, a rear sloping block facing any of Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Eastern suburbs beaches or waterways within Canada Bay, Lane Cove, Willoughby, Mosman or Hunters Hill Councils provides the obvious design advantages for water views and district aesthetics.
It’s crucial to recognize that steep slopes may demand more excavation to level the site for construction. Consequently, site costs are likely to increase proportionately.
8. Neighbouring Properties
When planning your home design, it is important to assess the current position of adjoining and rear properties. Council will typically ensure that your home design is in line with the streetscape and not out of character for the area.
The size of the neighbouring buildings as well as position of windows and courtyards will have an impact on your new home design or extension. For instance, you wouldn’t want to design a balcony or bedroom with views directly into a neighbouring bedroom or bathroom. Council would request that your windows be offset to the neighbours or privacy screens be installed.
