Building a house? Strap in for an exciting ride and a once in a lifetime opportunity to create something really special.
But if there’s one thing you absolutely should do first – it’s spend the bulk of your time thinking about making the design work for years to come. Continue reading Good homes need great bones
Choosing an architect is a bit like choosing a life partner. Without the dating.
It’s a weird sort of set up. You meet them once, or maybe twice, and then sign up to having them spend a pretty penny on your behalf. At least you get to live in the results, and hopefully they will be beautiful. Continue reading How to pick an architect
Councils are taking longer to approve big developments.
The average time to process a DA worth between $5 million and $20 million increased from 230 days to 257 days in 2009-10 over the previous year.
The time for applications worth more than $20 million remains well above 300 days – much higher than three years ago.
Part of the rationale behind introducing fast-track approvals for simple developments was so councils could devote more time to major developments and process them faster.
”The situation has deteriorated for those wanting to invest large sums in NSW,” says Aaron Gadiel, chief executive of the Urban Taskforce which represents developers.
Councils that took the longest time to process developments between $5 million and $20 million were Singleton (1167 days), Burwood (940), Wingecarribee (687), Bega Valley (595) and Tweed (589). For projects worth more than $20 million they were Rockdale (894 days), Wyong (766), Lake Macquarie (554), Bankstown (553), Blacktown (521) and Tweed (497 days).
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Unlike clothing, your home is built to last and styles should reflect that reality.
A trap for the unwary renovator is being seduced by what Robin Boyd defined as the mesmerism of “fashion” and remaking your home into a showcase of the latest, most up-to-datest in design, detailing and decor.
If your house looks like the cover of a “trend” magazine, you’ve possibly already dropped into this expensive pit with big-ticket items that will, in a few years, make your renovation instantly datable. Continue reading Today’s trend is dated by tomorrow