Article by Kathryn Welling 12 May 2017 News Local Manly Daily
A new granny flat built in Minkara Rd, Bayview. Plenty of room for a small family.
OVERSIZED granny flats are booming in the former Pittwater Council area, with a new one approved every three and a bit days.
Northern Beaches Council has confirmed that the former local government area from North Narrabeen up to Palm Beach had 109 granny flats approved from May last year to May this year.
That is a new granny flat approved every 80 hours.
An example of a granny flat built on a large block in Bayview.
That compares to 94 granny flat approvals in the area from May 2015 to May 2016.
Because of a decision made by the former Pittwater Council in 2009, the granny flats in the old Pittwater area can be much larger than the standard 60sq m set by the State Government.
Land sizes in Pittwater are often large and the local government at the time decided to allow granny flats of up to 25 per cent of the floorspace of the main house. So the owners of a house with a 380sq m footprint on a large block of land could apply to build a 95sq m granny flat also on the site.
Granny flats in the former Pittwater area can be up to 25 per cent of the footprint of the main house so are often bigger than other granny flats on the northern beaches.
Agent Jillian McGrath, of McGrath Mona Vale, said many blocks in Mona Vale were deep and well suited to granny flats and were built for intergeneration living.“Ageing parents living on a big block build a granny flat for themselves and let their kids and grandchildren have the main house. It saves their kids moving to the Central Coast and means less maintenance for the older generation,” she said.
Ryan Petrie, of LJ Hooker Mona Vale, said in the 1980s when interest rates were high many homeowners converted their downstairs area into flats. Now, when first home prices are high they are building granny flats.
Bayview has some large blocks, up to 4500sqm. This one is in Sunnyridge Place
“A new granny flat can rent out for $650 a week, and in the Bayview area rather than a tennis court you can have another home for mum or an aged relative,” he said.
Paul Mathias of Multidwell based in Warriewood said homeowners in Bayview in particular are building granny flats on land which is often 1000sq m to 4500sq m in size.
“We have built six granny flats in Bayview already and have another four in the planning stage,” Mathias said.
The display unit for Multidwell in Warriewood.
“Because they can build bigger flats, they are usually two bedrooms with parking and are not looking at the low end of the market, they choose a high-end product.
“They use it for family members initially and then when the kids are financially secure and have moved out they can rent it out.”