Caravan in the back yard

[spurner]

I have a large flat back yard in a good area of Wellington. Small bedsits/sleepouts here rent for $120-$180pw. Is there anything stopping me from dropping 1 or several caravans in the back yard and renting them out individually? The return would be crazy. I was thinking of doing it properly, fencing them off seperately, connecting to water, sewerage and electrical mains, building a canopy out the front etc.

Do I need consents if they are removable? Anyone have experience?

[kolzee]

spurner - is this your own residential property or a rental?? If rental, have you factored in lower rental for the existing abode?

If it's your place of residence, are you crazy?? In fact, either way - are you crazy??

[spurner]

hi kolzee

this is a multi-flat investment property with an existing self-contained sleepout on seperate tenancy, but still plenty of unused backyard area.

when i say good area i mean in a good location where there is very strong demand for rentals, not good area as in a hi-so area.

i don't think a caravan would have a detrimental effect on rents there, especially if it's fenced off and can't be seen. infact if i do the job properly and fence off the ugly yard i was thinking to increase rentals.

i searched the archives but couldn't find too much. Glenn has rented out a caravan for $60pw but not sure if on a seperate tenancy and including full kitchen/toilet facilities or not.

am i crazy, possibly... but pulling in another $8k p.a. for a small capital outlay would sure be a crazy return. have emailled wcc requesting clarification as not sure if it's deemed as housing and illegal to reside in permanently.

cheers,

spurner - is this your own residential property or a rental?? If rental, have you factored in lower rental for the existing abode?

If it's your place of residence, are you crazy?? In fact, either way - are you crazy??

[Cliffy]

Hi spurner,

Check out this site http://www.leisurebuilt.co.nz/

they have caravans that look like houses, and no you shouldn't need a buildning consent (but I would check with your local council).

I haven't used them myself. But let us know if you proceed and how it goes.

[CJ]

Some councils say that a caravan can not be permanent. This is especially so for beach places where they dont want people putting in a caravan and taking wheels off etc until they hav ethe money to build.

You will need to check with your council as you are doing.

[dksnz]

Definately check with council, esp. in regard to the connection to sewer etc - I think this would make a difference betw. permanent/temporary, and then it would start getting into the realms of consents, having to make the caravan comply to bldg requirements etc - hence the establishment of the likes of leisurebuilt [mini house]...

[warwick]

You may be able to hire a caravan or two, or three for $50 a week and rent them for $90, that way you can just take them back if demand drops or whatever. Besides that, I'd check with the council; as neighbours may often kick up a fuss.

[spurner]

leisurebuilt

Hi Grant

thanks for the link. they look great, alot better than an oldschool caravan.

first check is with wcc to check the legals, as it may be an abrupt no.

will let you all know how i get on...

[Glenn]

I know of one landlord that tried this out in Nelson.
She did not hook up the sewer and all that but had several on the site(s).
She thought she would make a killing also. The City council threw the book at her. I talked to the chief building inspector about it. Numbers on the site and doing it as a business was his problem as I recall.
The lady really could not cope with the stress of it all either. She now lives in a caravan herself and has no rental properties.

[xris]

She now lives in a caravan herself and has no rental properties.

I think this is amusing, although perhaps I shouldn't.

[charmed]

What kind of people are you going to attract living in caravans? will you have the facilities for them such as toilets, powered sites, etc?

[spurner]

tenants

Typical tenants would be the same as those in bedsits/sleepouts, namely those employed in a non-professional field who prefer to live alone but don't want to pay $200-$300pw for a 1br flat.

I'd want to do it properly, connecting to water, sewerage and electrical mains, and full kitchen/toilet facilities. The leisure built series looks more like a gottage than a caravan, check out the link.

Going slightly OT I have found bedsit/sleepout tenants to be the best there are. I have many and never lost a weeks rent. They tend to stay a very long time too, presumably knowing if they have to move out they're unlikely to find a place that cheap again.

What kind of people are you going to attract living in caravans? will you have the facilities for them such as toilets, powered sites, etc?

[Glenn]

I find the same with my bedsitter tenants.
they stay and pay. Not a bad deal for landlords.
I think one of the major reasons people living alone stay long term is that they do not suffer from relationship problems. These sorts of problems are one of the major reasons people keep moving from flat to flat. They have a bad experience in the flat and by moving they think they can start again. Real sad actually.
Like I mentioned about our local city council their rules are designed around a mythical family and really disadvantage many otherwise quite normal people who do not want to pay for the privaledge of living in a family home. If the little flats, sleepouts, and caravans that appear in little corners of our cities are not up to standard the owners have to accept extreme low grade tenants. You know the sort that are violent, poor payers, tend to have criminal habits, and treat the properties like animals.
The buidlings do not make them like that society does.

[DontPanic]

I have looked into using caravans and portable cabins on backyards in the franklin area .The council said they would tolerate a caravan being used for accomidation for up to 6 months and there defanition of a caravan was having wheels.I also asked about portable cabins they said it would need a building permit, this would require foundations and a standard of insulation up to there regulations. I imagine there would be many more issues to getting a portable cabin legaly sited in the suberbs like parking, stormwater,etc.I suspect if you just played ignorant and sited a caravan discretly you would fly under the radar for years if there wasnt any complants from disgruntled tenants or neigbours.I think the real problem here is your liability in the advent of an accident I dont think any Insuranse company would cover a ilegally sited,tenanted caravan.

[spurner]

food for thought

Some interesting notes there. I think this is the type of exercise that would proceed only if no laws were being broken of course.

I am interested in council's actual bylaws, like can you move the caravan next door after 6 months... Or can you swap caravans after 6 months for another one... I wonder if the council are making up certain rules just to make things sound reasonable...

The real point for me is not solely to get a cheap sleepout, but to avoid resource consents, architects, engineers, surveys, submissions, hearings, impact reports, creating additional off-street parking, building consents, inspections, fees and more fees.

I have looked into using caravans and portable cabins on backyards in the franklin area .The council said they would tolerate a caravan being used for accomidation for up to 6 months and there defanition of a caravan was having wheels.I also asked about portable cabins they said it would need a building permit, this would require foundations and a standard of insulation up to there regulations. I imagine there would be many more issues to getting a portable cabin legaly sited in the suberbs like parking, stormwater,etc.I suspect if you just played ignorant and sited a caravan discretly you would fly under the radar for years if there wasnt any complants from disgruntled tenants or neigbours.I think the real problem here is your liability in the advent of an accident I dont think any Insuranse company would cover a ilegally sited,tenanted caravan.