Hello,
I am new to this site and property management/investment and really need advise on my current predicament. As I think unknowingly I have put myself in a potentially compromised position.
We bought a house in Central Auckland a few years ago. The underneath had already been dug out but not as such a useable space. The upstairs which is rented out has 5 bedrooms, average condition and is managed by a property manager. Anyway we decided that we would like to put a self-contained flat downstairs, with the longer term view of making the two areas (upstairs and down) connected. We hope to live in the house in the future. We currently don't live in Auckland.
During our council consent application process we had to modify our plans to put in an internal staircase as it had to be one dwelling. That was fine as longer term we wanted that anyway. Once consent came through we undertook the build. We are 98% complete. 1 month ago I realised we actually had no kitchenette on the plans (don't ask me how these had been taken off the plan as I don't honestly know - my husband was the one dealing with all of this, and I am very surprised the construction company never mentioned it given we had discussed the kitchen many times). So we have consent for a rumpus room, laundry room with sink, bedroom and bathroom. We spoke to council about our omittance and they suggested that we get code of compliance and then lodge a new application with the kitchenette. So we decided to rent out the downstairs space 'as is', meaning no cooking facilities.
Then as as I started to investigate 'no cooking facilities' I found this site and started reading about 'separate exclusive households', this now has me worried.
So as it stands we have a tenancy agreement for the 5 bedroom upstairs. And are about to rent out the nice 1 bedroom with no cooking facilities downstairs under another tenancy agreement (I told them we would put a door in).
So my question is how do I legally comply with council regulations for a single dwelling with 2 tenancy agreements?
Also we want to put a door at the bottom of the stairs from a sound perspective and privacy - can we do this given our current predicament?
I realise I sound like an idiot and seriously can't believe I didn't realise all of this. I like to do things by the book and this situation is causing me major stress. We always discussed our intentions with our property manager and he said it was all fine, he would manage the two parties....until we said we couldn't provide cooking facilities. The build has cost 100% more than estimated so we are so financially stretched and need rental income from downstairs.
Many thanks in advance for your advise and input.
I am new to this site and property management/investment and really need advise on my current predicament. As I think unknowingly I have put myself in a potentially compromised position.
We bought a house in Central Auckland a few years ago. The underneath had already been dug out but not as such a useable space. The upstairs which is rented out has 5 bedrooms, average condition and is managed by a property manager. Anyway we decided that we would like to put a self-contained flat downstairs, with the longer term view of making the two areas (upstairs and down) connected. We hope to live in the house in the future. We currently don't live in Auckland.
During our council consent application process we had to modify our plans to put in an internal staircase as it had to be one dwelling. That was fine as longer term we wanted that anyway. Once consent came through we undertook the build. We are 98% complete. 1 month ago I realised we actually had no kitchenette on the plans (don't ask me how these had been taken off the plan as I don't honestly know - my husband was the one dealing with all of this, and I am very surprised the construction company never mentioned it given we had discussed the kitchen many times). So we have consent for a rumpus room, laundry room with sink, bedroom and bathroom. We spoke to council about our omittance and they suggested that we get code of compliance and then lodge a new application with the kitchenette. So we decided to rent out the downstairs space 'as is', meaning no cooking facilities.
Then as as I started to investigate 'no cooking facilities' I found this site and started reading about 'separate exclusive households', this now has me worried.
So as it stands we have a tenancy agreement for the 5 bedroom upstairs. And are about to rent out the nice 1 bedroom with no cooking facilities downstairs under another tenancy agreement (I told them we would put a door in).
So my question is how do I legally comply with council regulations for a single dwelling with 2 tenancy agreements?
Also we want to put a door at the bottom of the stairs from a sound perspective and privacy - can we do this given our current predicament?
I realise I sound like an idiot and seriously can't believe I didn't realise all of this. I like to do things by the book and this situation is causing me major stress. We always discussed our intentions with our property manager and he said it was all fine, he would manage the two parties....until we said we couldn't provide cooking facilities. The build has cost 100% more than estimated so we are so financially stretched and need rental income from downstairs.
Many thanks in advance for your advise and input.
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