Changing Property Address - Turning a Unit into a House

Pianesseur on 08/11/2018 - 21:12

Hi everyone! Asking for some advice here please.

So I recently purchased a unit (2 units on one block of land).

The whole land is situated on a corner, Unit 1 is facing one street, while Unit 2 is facing the other street (both street have different names).

The address for Unit 2 follows the street Unit 1 is facing. (i.e. Address = 2/1 Street Unit 1 is facing)

There are no shared/common property at all and they both have their own individual driveway.

The unit I recently purchased is Unit 2.

My question is: Can I/ or what is the process of changing the property address so my unit has it's own street address?

My reasons for turning the property from a unit into a house, is so:
1) It has it's own individual street address.
2) Not confusing for the postman (The mailbox currently has the whole address of the unit on it in small writings)
3) Maybe the value of the property will go up because it is now a house instead of a unit?
4) It just makes sense that the property's address is actually the street it's facing.
5) Unit 1's mailbox actually just says one number, instead of indicating it's a unit (For example: 50, instead of saying 1/50).

I contacted the office of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and they said "it should be okay" and "there is no fee to changing the address", however I will need to go through a solicitor or conveyancer for the change/transferring of title, and then told me to ask the conveyancer who is helping me with my settlement.

I called my conveyancer and they are unsure as it's quite a rare scenario. Then quoted me $2000 for it - costing much more than settling the property.

I've looked online everywhere for information but could not find the right form and am unsure what to look for. Hence turning to the kind people on OzBargain.

Apologies if my explanation is confusing, first time buying a home and it's been a steep learning curve. Any advice will be useful though!

Thank you everyone!

TL;DR:
Purchased corner Unit which is facing other street, but address is street Unit 1 is facing. Wants it turned into a house and have address as street it's actually facing.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • elgrande on 08/11/2018 - 21:18
    +1

    Changing the address is one thing.. sub dividing it to its own block of land is another.

    Turning it into a house…. well .. good luck!

  • TheBilly on 08/11/2018 - 21:33
    +5

    You will gain no value in property price. Your unit or house or whatever you call it has an ownership structure - either it is a strata title or torrens title. A change in title will give it value.

  • poboy on 08/11/2018 - 21:57
    +2

    Regarding changing address, call your council to understand the process. The house number needs to be free and unambiguous. It also helps to have your front door facing the street you want to be associated with.

  • Euphemistic on 08/11/2018 - 22:10
    +1

    Will need to subdivide the block. Not cheap. The steeet address refers to the parcel of land, as designated by the council. You could change the street address fo both relatively easily I’d imagine, but that defeats your purpose.

  • jjjaar on 08/11/2018 - 22:19
    +2

    Your council will determine addresses when blocks are subdivided. Your block was obviously 50 Main Street. For simplicity council gave it sub numbers of that, rather than worrying about whether you should be on Side Street.

    But unfortunately, you can’t just say you want a Side Street address. Firstly, as mentioned above, if there is any body corp or strata, things will be a bit trickier.

    Also there will be differences if your blocks are on one shared title, or two separate titles that just happen to have been built at the same time.

    Secondly, council has to look at what numbers are available. If you’re in between 6 Side Street and 8 Side Street, you can’t have your own number as there is no vacancy. You’ll have to be 6A Side Street or 1/6.

    I have seen this happen a lot when side blocks are subdivided with no body corp or strata. One I know of was 2 Main Street and it was split into two with the second becoming 3a Side Street. Years later 2 Main Street was split again, with the second one being 3b Side Street. This is awkward because now it goes, 3 Side Street, 3b, 3a, 5…

    Call council and have a chat. They’re the ones that allocate the numbering.

    • Pianesseur on 09/11/2018 - 00:22
      +1

      This is actually quite helpful. Thank you so much for that!!

      The unit I own is actually the last property on the side street, so if the address is changed, it would be 87 side street, instead of 2/50 Main Street.
      Will definitely call up the council tomorrow and ask. Thanks again!

      • jjjaar on 09/11/2018 - 06:47
        +1

        Would love to hear the outcome. Good luck!

  • Randxyz123 on 08/11/2018 - 22:40
    +1

    So is your plan to knock it down and turn it into a house? Or knock through the shared walls?

    I called my conveyancer and they are unsure as it's quite a rare scenario. Then quoted me $2000 for it - costing much more than settling the property.

    You're going to need a lawyer/solicitor/conveyancer and a meeting with the council to sort this out. Probably a meeting I'd have had before buying the unit. You need to make sure you get the correct advice and the council might put you in the "too hard basket".

    Good luck.

    • Pianesseur on 09/11/2018 - 00:28

      Thanks for your response knick007, really appreciate it.

      I’m not planning to knock it down or anything. There are no shared walls at all and there are also no body Corp to pay. I want an address of its own purely because the driveway and front door is facing side street, instead of Main Street. (Also hoping an address of its own sounds better/more like a house instead of unit).

      You’re probably right about them going to put it into the “too hard basket”. I kinda felt the $2000 my conveyancer quoted me is a lot, probably because it’s tricky for them.

  • JIMB0 on 09/11/2018 - 06:38
    +2

    MS paint diagram required.

  • original15 on 09/11/2018 - 08:51
    +1

    How are you going to add a street number to the other street it is facing?
    Assuming you have an understanding of the other street, what number is it likely to be? Struggling to see how this could be possible, assuming the other street has houses/units with street numbers
    House 9and 3/4?

    Edit Sorry just saw your other post above. Lucky it is the last block so I guess there is some chance it could work!

  • HighAndDry on 09/11/2018 - 10:21

    Just FYI:

    So I recently purchased a unit (2 units on one block of land).

    From everything else, it seems like you bought a house, not a unit. A unit is another term for an apartment.

    • Euphemistic on 09/11/2018 - 16:53
      +1

      Unit is also a term used to describe villas or townhouses. Pretty much any property where there are multiples on one block are described as unit 1/23 Main Street etc. the other alternate naming convention is just 1a, 1b, 1c Main Street but this is only typically for up to 4 or 5 places

      • HighAndDry on 09/11/2018 - 16:55

        Those too, but less common. But in this case, OP's confirmed it's not a townhouse or villa, is free standing, shares no common property, and is basically a house in every respect (that I can tell from this thread anyway).

  • [Deactivated] on 09/11/2018 - 11:10
    +2

    Let me know if you work it out. I would love to know how to turn my unit into a house

  • Tivo7777 on 03/06/2023 - 17:31

    Hey OP,

    Could I get your outcome of this? I brought a similar property recently in Melbourne but mine is on Main Street! Would like it to changed to 1A instead of 1/1 or its own number.

    Look forward to hearing from ya!

    Cheers

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join