5 Benefits of picking the right granny flat designs

Have you noticed that there are a plethora of new granny flat designs on the market? Depending on the design you select, this type of additional accommodation is suitable for housing elderly relatives, running a home business or generating a rental income; they have become extremely popular over the past few years with homeowners and investors.   

If you have started looking at a range of different granny flat designs, but are still wondering whether this is the right move for your family, here are 5 reasons why it might be a good idea.

  1. Small block sizes are OK: If you want to build a granny flat, you don’t need a huge block of land, it just needs to be at least 450 square metres in total. This means that you can easily fit a 70 square metre two-bed granny flat on your property and there are even one-bed granny flat designs that are less than 50 square metres as well.
  2. No subdivision issues: Since your granny flat will be built on your land and it will still have the same address as your main home, you don’t need to subdivide your land. This is great news for homeowners who don’t want to be troubled with subdivision problems, particularly since some councils won’t let you subdivide.
  3. Maximise living space: With more and more Aussies preferring to renovate rather than move, our granny flat designs might be the perfect solution to your lifestyle problems. It will also increase the value of your home, since you have all that additional living space!
  4. Earn rental income: Short of increasing your salary there aren’t many ways to increase your income, which is why a granny flat is such a great idea. You can earn a significant amount of money from renting your granny flat to students, professionals, even families (our designs include one or two bedrooms), all of whom want affordable, modern accommodation.
  5. Seamless designs: Our designs can be customised to match your existing home’s external décor so that it looks like it has always been there! It won’t look like an add-on or a poor cousin, because it will be a high quality build that will lift the look and feel of your existing home.

For more information on our granny flat designs, call us on 07 3209 4623 or send us an email today.

Are granny flats in Brisbane a good investment?

With all the hype about building granny flats in Brisbane, homeowners need to do their research and make sure that they are a good investment for their situation. If you have been considering building a granny flat on your block of land, here are 5 reasons why it might be a good idea.

  1. Lifestyle choices: You might want to build a granny flat so that your elderly parents can live close to your family, but not actually in your house. Many elderly relatives need help as they age, but still want to hang on to their independence; many adult children want their parents living nearby, so they can help them, but don’t have the room or the desire to share the same house in Brisbane; granny flats are the easy solution.
  2. Rental income: If you have the space on your property, you can build a granny flat and rent it out until it’s needed by your elderly parents in the future. Obviously you would need to declare any rent as income to the ATO, but it can make a big difference and gives you a granny flat that is ready and waiting for when it’s needed by your parents.
  3. Reducing investment risk: If you already have a rental property, then you have all your investment eggs in one basket, so to speak. With a granny flat that is producing rent however, you have an additional source of income to tide you over until your other rental property is tenanted; this spreads your risk quite nicely.
  4. Tax savings: Maintenance and repairs for granny flats that are tenanted in Brisbane can be used to offset your tax debt by reducing your taxable income. If it’s not tenanted of course, you can’t claim any repairs or maintenance.
  5. Increasing the value of your property: Whilst you will most probably be able to sell your home for a higher price with a granny flat on your property, this higher price may not always cover the total cost of its build. Also, when you do decide to sell your home, you may reduce the available market, simply because not everyone wants a granny flat!

Many homeowners build granny flats in Brisbane for the simple reason that they need space for elderly relatives, a teenage retreat or as space for guests, a studio and a home office. Whatever your reasons for building a granny flat, call us on 07 3209 4623 for a chat about your needs.

Inspiring ideas for the modern granny flat

A modern granny flat is ideal if you want to provide housing for your elderly relatives, you need a teenage retreat or you want to earn some rental income. They come with at least one bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and living area and can be designed to suit your exact needs.

However, with so many different designs available, it’s often difficult to decide which is best for your requirements. So if you are in the market for a modern granny flat, here are a few inspirational designs to consider.

Architectural designs

Depending on the design of your main house, you might want to follow that design onto your modern granny flat by including the same type of external or internal architecture. At Queensland Granny Flats, we can match the architecture of your granny flat to your home quite easily!

Minimalist designs

If you have a limited amount of space available and want to focus on utility more than anything else, then a minimalist design might suit your needs. This type of modern granny flat is ideal if you are on a limited budget as well, and want to increase your household income by renting the flat.

Contemporary cottage designs

With a beautiful veranda to while away a few lazy hours in the afternoon, a contemporary cottage design might tick all your boxes. This type of modern granny flat includes all mod cons, but from an aesthetic point of view, it also oozes a ‘back to nature’ cottage feel, so loved by many homeowners.

Step up designs

These can include a few steps up to the veranda and living areas to offer a clear separation between the main house the granny flat or can be raised up on poles to provide car parking underneath and access to a beautiful view.

Landscape designs

These are different to the contemporary cottage designs in that they seem to disappear into the landscape, offering the ideal of complete separation between the flat and the main house. This design is ideal for larger properties with lots of trees and extensive landscaping.

To discuss your ideas for your own modern granny flat on your land, call us on 07 3209 4623 for a chat about your needs.