When you’re faced with the quandary of whether to stay or move, you might find knocking down and rebuilding your home is a viable option, writes Harvey Grennan.
Dilemma: Your existing house is too small for your growing brood but you love the location close to family, friends and facilities. Vacant land in the area on which to build is scarce and priced through the roof. You could renovate and extend your home, but the old house isn't really worth it and the quotes are horrendous. What to do?
As a rule of thumb, if a renovation is going to cost more than $300,000 you should consider knocking down and rebuilding, says Archicentre's David Hallett. The figure will vary between states, he says, but you should ask yourself 'What is the best use of $300,000?'.
According to the Housing Industry Association about 15 per cent of all new detached homes built by the country's biggest 100 building firms are knockdown/rebuilds. The statistics are rubbery but there would be up to 30,000 knockdowns a year in Australia.
"Of course there may be good reasons not to knock down your home. If it is a period or heritage house you might go backwards financially, it may be a family home with strong emotional ties or the local council may refuse permission or impose onerous conditions. But you should consider all the options," says Hallett.
If you choose to knock the house down and use a project home builder, the cost may be a lot less than renovating and extending and you get a brand-new house. Sure, you pay extra for demolition and renting while the new house is being built but demolition may not be as expensive as you think. If you sold and bought another house you might have to rent for a while anyway.
Building a project home doesn't mean you're stuck with a standard design either. With the help of computerised estimation, project builders can amend a design - without it costing a bomb.
Other reasons people choose to knock down a house, says Alan Soutar, head of contract building for AV Jennings, are that they find the location but the existing home doesn't meet their needs. Or they are after a dual-occupancy subdivision for lifestyle or investment purposes.
The extra cost of demolition and council approval for a knockdown varies with locality, lot shape and size and council requirements, says Soutar. "As a guide this can range from $10,000-$30,000."
And it takes time. AV Jennings estimates that design and documentation takes eight-10 weeks, council approval 12-25 weeks and demolition and construction 26-30 weeks.
