Archicentre

Home owners cashing in their back yard need to ensure they do not devalue their lifestyle or their own home through poor design, Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, said today.

Archicentre State Manager Queensland Ian Agnew said, "with many baby boomers facing rapidly rising cost of living expenses and a volatile share market, which is cutting into their savings, an increasing number of people are looking at the wealth they have invested in their own back yard."

"Whilst people may see it as appealing to turn their back yard into cash by subdividing and selling, thus removing their maintenance burden, careful consideration and tight control needs to be maintained over the siting, design and building of a new home through careful planning."

Mr Agnew said, the upside of selling off the back yard is that you can get some cash in the bank, the downside is that you devalue your original property so the net gain may not be as much as you think.

"At Archicentre we are getting an increasing number of requests to look at back yards through the Archicentre design service, which increases the value of the block of land when the home owner obtains a subdivision and planning permit for a specifically designed home."

"Many people have done the figures and realise they stand to make more money by taking this path, and in some cases they sell the original home, which may need renovation, and move into the new home built on the subdivision."

"This is a win - win situation for both the vendor and the buyer. For the vendor they can ask a premium price for the land and importantly have been able to protect their position by influencing the design, for example - the placement of windows and positioning of outside decks and screening plantings."

"For the buyer once they purchase the land with a planning permit they can start straight way without facing expensive holding costs for twelve months on a plan to work in harmony with the existing home."

Mr Agnew said when considering a subdivision people need to consider the design and orientation of the new home to ensure both their privacy and the ambience of their living space is maintained by clearly setting out siting guidelines in the sale documents.

"Designing of the new home should take into account the privacy and noise requirements for comfortable living, which requires architects to design a home with suitable materials that provide a quality and sustainable residence."

Mr Agnew said, "people should place a premium on access to sunlight and the ability to be able to utilise natural screening to maintain the green ambience of their environment even though it is smaller."