Minor Dwelling Wellington

[SleepyTiger]

Hey Guys,
Jason here. New to the Forum. First post.

I m at the very initial stage at investigating building a Minor Dwelling Unit on my backyard in Wellington. Just wondering anyone can give me some insight to some of the questions below, any help is appreciated. Apologize in advance if the question sounds newbie-ish !

1) The MDU will be completely self-contained ( with kitchen etc). I have talked to a council planning technician, he said no building consent is needed as long as it meets council's requirements in terms of building size , distance to the neighbors, provide parking for the unit etc. (For argument's sake say my MDU meets all the requirement.) Has anyone done this in Wellington? is it true? ( Sounds almost too good lol?)

2) I am reading somewhere in the other forums that it's illegal if you rent the minor dwelling unit to separate tenants (i.e rent out the main house to one person and rent the MDU to another)? Does that apply to Wellington Region?

3) Anyone knows/recommends a good building company that can take care of such projects?

4) The MDU would be around 40 m2 plus or minus. Anyone knows approximate cost estimates? Any price indication would be nice , esp if you have done one yourself.

Thanks a lot for the help in advance.

[Orkibi]

In Auckland they cost around 120k all-up. 60m2 floor area

In Rotorua you can have them built for around 80k around 70m2 from memory.

Make sure you are clear about Council requirements and fees, some would charge you development contribution

[WGN ex-property manager]

No building consent??? I think not.

Perhaps he meant no Resource Consent?

[Passive income]

Yea, Definately need building consent.

Would have been talking about resource consent

Have investigated the same thing for our property.
You would need a resource consent if you couldn't compily with any of the council bylaws.

A few things you need for each dwelling to compily are:

1. 50sm of outdoor space. Not less than 4 meters in width to be included.
2. 1 off street park per dwelling.
3. All the dwelling to be inside the sunlight access plains from the neighbouring boundaries.

Although, the above rules are for the outer residential zone on the distroct plan.
Where abouts is the property? Because the rules are a bit easier for inner residential zone.

I'd be keen to follow your investigation and see how you get on.

Cheers

Chris

[SleepyTiger]

Hey, thanks for the costing indication. Talked to uncle who built a house in Hamilton last year, 1500 per m2. So give a bit fat and allow contingency + council costs sounds about right.

Robin, I realised that was amateur hour talking lol. I thought no building consent made no sense!! Yea would have definitely been resource consent.

Chris, can you elaborate on point 1 & 3 a bit more if you don’t mind please? What you mean by "not less than 4 meters in width to be included?" (<-- my amateur time question) , & point 3 being not blocking neighbour's sun & have sun access for the MDU itself etc?? it will be north-west facing, plenty of sun . won't block next door or the existing property as well. =)

Property is in Northland suburb. But at this stage will consider worst case scenario.

One way to get around the off-site parking is to engage council to do a “traffic” survey. i.e. take photos of the street for a week and see if there is enough space for street parking etc. But I plan to build a carport to provide parking anyway.

I am drafting up an initial site plan and getting my mates to do some 3D layout. Then take it to the council and talk to them in person. Probably better if they can actually see the drawings. Will keep you up date in this forum or P.M if you want Chris.

Anyone knows any good construction companies/tradesmen?
After I have a chat to council and if everything looks good (from council process point of view) then I will probably get quotes, and then engage them to do a further feasibility study/site inspection/planning (although don’t think there will be issues, *knock on wood" ,whether the project goes ahead will most likely depends on budget), then packaging the design to submit to council for approval.

[Passive income]

Have a good look through this:

http://www.wellington.govt.nz/plans/district/volume1/pdfs/v1chap05pt1.pdf

This will give you a good understanding of what I'm on about.

There's also the site coverage rule of a maximum of about 35% of the site without resource consent.

I'm a sparky if you need one of those down the track.

Cheers

Chris

[Vai-man]

Hey, thanks for the costing indication. Talked to uncle who built a house in Hamilton last year, 1500 per m2. So give a bit fat and allow contingency + council costs sounds about right.

Robin, I realised that was amateur hour talking lol. I thought no building consent made no sense!! Yea would have definitely been resource consent.

Chris, can you elaborate on point 1 & 3 a bit more if you don’t mind please? What you mean by "not less than 4 meters in width to be included?" (<-- my amateur time question) , & point 3 being not blocking neighbour's sun & have sun access for the MDU itself etc?? it will be north-west facing, plenty of sun . won't block next door or the existing property as well. =)

Property is in Northland suburb. But at this stage will consider worst case scenario.

One way to get around the off-site parking is to engage council to do a “traffic” survey. i.e. take photos of the street for a week and see if there is enough space for street parking etc. But I plan to build a carport to provide parking anyway.

I am drafting up an initial site plan and getting my mates to do some 3D layout. Then take it to the council and talk to them in person. Probably better if they can actually see the drawings. Will keep you up date in this forum or P.M if you want Chris.

Anyone knows any good construction companies/tradesmen?
After I have a chat to council and if everything looks good (from council process point of view) then I will probably get quotes, and then engage them to do a further feasibility study/site inspection/planning (although don’t think there will be issues, *knock on wood" ,whether the project goes ahead will most likely depends on budget), then packaging the design to submit to council for approval.

You going to draw the plans yourself? Its best to keep it within 3604 to be simple and easy. or get a draughtsman to do it or a builder haha.

Being in northland whats the building site like? im geussing not flat haha, $1500 a sq is on the cheap cheap side for wellington depending on section.

I know a good tradesman who will quote competitively has a good reputation in the western suburbs, 25yrs experience good portfolio pm me if you want.

[SleepyTiger]

Chris, Thanks heaps, that stuff is helpful. yes ! Sparky is handy !!!

Vai-man, yea just a simple plan view on pdf & 3D model, I work for an engieering firm so I know heaps draughtsman haha. But eventually I will have to do a proper one (probably with tradesman) to submit to council.

yea correct , NOT FLAT lol! it's more like a terrace, flat, slope(drop), flat again, on and on, Not a showstopper, workable. Me thinking about piling. But who knows. Current house is on similar land structure. Cost-wise still investigating , I m building up components in my cost spreadsheet , money money money ~~ add heaps of contingency and overheads allowance ! (prepare for the worst case but go for the best result), Key to the success of planning any project =)

Haha yea I will p.m you about the tradesman , cheer

[One]

$1500 psm for a small building on a non-flat section sounds a bit on the low side to me.