The single most important thing to achieve when developing apartments and units is a plan view of the entire project. Once you have this view, you can see problems before they arise and mitigate risk on a variety of fronts.
Do your research
- Seek advice early
- Understand planning restrictions and building regulations in your area
- Know your budget
- Understand the process of assessing, designing and building
Seeking advice early, particularly from a licensed surveyor, will help you develop a list of tasks, processes and requirements for getting the project under way.
Understanding the planning restrictions and building regulations yourself will ensure you know what to expect at each turn. Although your surveyor knows these rules, it helps the process if you know them yourself.
Decide on a budget and work with the surveyor to ensure each line item is covered to avoid the impact of hidden expenses. These costs can quickly derail a development if they haven’t been factored in.
Designing the building comes with its own requirements especially when considering the impact of the development on neighbouring properties and the environment.
Early assessment is essential
- Get property surveys done first
- Work out realistically how much time it will take
- Know what restrictions could hold back the development
- Know the market if planning to sell
Surveys are needed at the very beginning of the subdivision and development process. A title boundary survey and features and levels survey will help with the creation of the development.
Once these surveys are done the preliminary work will be complete and early problems identified. This will help your surveyor guide you realistically on how long the whole process will take.
By doing planning and regulatory research you should have an understanding of what could hold back the development, such as overshadowing, parking, sewage and building heights. By being aware of these it’s possible to include solutions in the planning application.
If you’re planning to develop for profit it’s essential you know what the property market is doing in the area you’re planning to develop. Be aware of other building, road and community plans as these can impact resale value.
Stick to the process
- Assessment
- Design
- Approvals
- Building
A surveyor will help you create a to-do list that should be adhered to as mistakes can be costly from both a financial and time perspective. What may be viewed as a small error initially can add months to the entire process.
Aside from subdivision approval, the development will also need building design approval so be prepared for another round of regulations. Once you have approvals you should finally have the green light to start building.
Speak with your surveyor about ensuring your dream development comes to fruition with the minimum of fuss … and cost.