Louie Perri of Millenium Homes in the backyard of one of his current projects in Heidelberg West. Photo: Daniel Pockett
The backyard as we know it – with a spacious lawn for cricket, a pool and outdoor furniture – is under threat as property owners slice off chunks to capitalise on Melbourne’s property market.
Rising house prices are fuelling demand for homes on carved-off land, while smaller inner-city blocks are encouraging architects to be more creative with designs of so-called upside-down houses.
This stunning property at 126 Heath Street, Port Melbourne, is an example of an “upside-down” house. Photo: Greg Hocking
Large blocks with potential to be portioned off are drawing strong interest, with one couple pocketing hundreds of thousands after a subdivision project at 49 Lawson Street in Highett.
They bought a three-bedroom house on corner block for $956,000 in April 2015, sliced off the backyard to build a townhouse and then sold both properties separately for a combined $1.52 million in recent months, Hodges Sandringham director Paul Bond said.
He said there was demand for land with subdivision potential because “prices have gone skyward in the bayside area; it’s become almost unaffordable for a lot of first home buyers”.
126 Heath Street, Port Melbourne. Photo: Greg Hocking
Louie Perri, director of builders Millenium Homes, bought a house on a 615-square-metre block at 10 Bardia Street, Heidelberg West, last year with intention to subdivide, renovating the front house and building in the backyard.
“I think [Heidelberg West] has flown under the radar for so long that that’s about to stop,” said Mr Perri, who is now selling the townhouse off-the-plan for $649,000.
In addition to backyards, property owners are also carving off their front yards and even tennis courts. Nelson Alexander Greensborough’s Nunzio Sulfaro said many subdivisions occurred because asset-rich and cash-flow poor owners wanted to unlock the value of their land.
A couple bought the property at 49 Lawson Parade, Highett, and built in the backyard. Photo: Hodges
In Frankston North, Eview Group’s Simon King said subdividable properties sold quickly and achieved about an extra $20,000 than non-subdividable blocks.
The majority of subdividable blocks in the area were being carved off, compared with five years ago when it was not really thought of, he said.
Frankston council acting chief executive Gillian Kay said there were 548 new developments in the 2015-16 financial year, an increase from 400 in 2013-2014.
The owners are selling their front yard at 248 Andersons Creek Road, Doncaster East. Photo: Barry Plant Manningham
“About half of the 548 new developments in the 2015-2016 financial year are the result of subdividing an existing property,” Dr Kay said.
Architect Nicholas Murray said home owners with a small block could take advantage of the “upside down house” design, where the living space was upstairs.
Including a courtyard downstairs meant losing a fair chunk of land, he said, so it could be more efficient to build the backyard or even a pool on top of the garage.
Metricon’s general manager of inner urban and dual occupancy, Brian Murphy, agreed there was a preference for a smaller backyard to allow room for a larger house. He said there was also an uptake of partially enclosed “outdoor rooms”.
“A lot of our customers are utilising these spaces for outdoor year-round entertainment, as opposed to the more traditional backyard barbecue,” he said.
The Botanical Group director Gus Gordon said to combat smaller land sizes, some materials could be brought from “inside out, and outside in”.
“We’ve done bluestone cladding outside that continues right through into the kitchen area,” he said, adding that the effect was a continuation of the living space.
Jim’s Mowing founder Jim Penman, who have also seen backyards shrink, said people were generally more house and garden proud than in the past.
“If you’ve only got a very small yard, you want it to be attractive and well maintained,” he said.