The Value of selling with a DA or BA.
Do you ever wonder if your property could be worth more with an approved Development or Building application?
Depending upon the type of work or building you wish to undertake you may need to lodge both applications or possibly just a Building Application (BA).
Some examples that require a Development Application (DA) are if you are applying to do something major, such as have a property rezoned into a different building class, or encroach on a boundary, do building work to a dwelling with a building control on it or you are planning a major development. The DA usually takes longer to prepare and have assessed and usually costs more. Most times a town planner is needed to prepare this assessment.
If you need a DA, you can only submit your BA after that has been approved. The BA is a lodgement consisting largely of the building plans that you’ve had drawn up by the architect or drafts person. These are assessed to ensure they meet the relevant building codes.
The nature of a DA means that you are seeking an approval for something larger than general building works. This approval will usually take a while from the beginning and through the assessment stage. Plans will be required, town planning reports will need to be prepared and then the lodgement time is on top of that. The approval body may come back and request modifications or may not approve it at all. At that stage you may have to redesign and resubmit. The whole DA process can take from a few months to years. A DA holds a lot of weight due to the nature of its request, costs and the permission granted. Therefore an approved DA is usually quite valuable to the sale of the property.
A BA when relating to a domestic dwelling are plans that the home owner has had drawn up to create their version of an ideal house. Whilst it might be their ideal vision, that opinion may not be shared by future property purchasers. One man’s castle may not be for another. Therefore an approved BA may not add any value to your sale.
The other thing to keep in mind is that any type of approval has a time limit attached to it. Building works need to begin within a certain time. Depending upon the age of the approval it’s value may have decreased and it may not be a simple case of getting a renewal as legislation may have changed in that time which could render your approval non compliant for a renewal.
If you are considering purchasing property to take advantage of either types of these approvals, do your homework and consult relevant experts in these industries.
