Semidetached Reno - Neighbour shares common car porch roof

[Snowiewhitey 0]

Hello! We are currently looking for a semi detached home and have noticed one potential home whereby the car porch roof is shared with the neighbour (the two supporting pillars are on either side of the partition wall)

are we allowed to demolish our side? What happens then. 
 

also I noticed the entire street’s semi detached houses are symmetrical.  Can we demolish and rebuild/ change the exterior if we were to purchase this semi detached please? 

[snoozee 97]

it is common for houses along a road to look the same since they are likely built by a developer.

as long as the unit you are eyeing is a single landed title deed and not a deed where the land is shared among the houses along the street, you can do whatever you want with the building on your land. if the land title deed is shared, you may need to consult a lawyer or experts for more advice.

with the shared roof, you can remove yours on your side and later on when you rebuilt the house, the neighbour roof is joined back to your house or just remained on their side but with proper water proofing done (at your cost). the shared car porch roof can also be demolished on your side. if there is no column to support their side of the car porch roof, you will likely need to see their permission to see how an additional column can be constructed to support their car porch roof on their side. again this is at your cost.

For now, you should just get the property agent to check and confirm if the house is sitting on a single landed title deed by itself. the seller can download the information from SLA free of charge to proof it as well.

after that, you can go to PUB website and purchase the SIP and DIP for the house to check if there's any public sewer running through the land and whether the land is subjected to drainage reserves as well. if there's sewer line running through the land, you may need to spend money to build a trench to protect the sewer when you rebuilt the house. any drainage reserves will mean you cannot built over that part of the land and it will need to be vested to the state for free as well.

[Snowiewhitey 0]

37 minutes ago, snoozee said:

it is common for houses along a road to look the same since they are likely built by a developer.

as long as the unit you are eyeing is a single landed title deed and not a deed where the land is shared among the houses along the street, you can do whatever you want with the building on your land. if the land title deed is shared, you may need to consult a lawyer or experts for more advice.

with the shared roof, you can remove yours on your side and later on when you rebuilt the house, the neighbour roof is joined back to your house or just remained on their side but with proper water proofing done (at your cost). the shared car porch roof can also be demolished on your side. if there is no column to support their side of the car porch roof, you will likely need to see their permission to see how an additional column can be constructed to support their car porch roof on their side. again this is at your cost.

For now, you should just get the property agent to check and confirm if the house is sitting on a single landed title deed by itself. the seller can download the information from SLA free of charge to proof it as well.

after that, you can go to PUB website and purchase the SIP and DIP for the house to check if there's any public sewer running through the land and whether the land is subjected to drainage reserves as well. if there's sewer line running through the land, you may need to spend money to build a trench to protect the sewer when you rebuilt the house. any drainage reserves will mean you cannot built over that part of the land and it will need to be vested to the state for free as well.

Thanks so much for the advice, I didn’t consider all these points. Will have to check further before committing then. 

[Snowiewhitey 0]

1 hour ago, snoozee said:

it is common for houses along a road to look the same since they are likely built by a developer.

as long as the unit you are eyeing is a single landed title deed and not a deed where the land is shared among the houses along the street, you can do whatever you want with the building on your land. if the land title deed is shared, you may need to consult a lawyer or experts for more advice.

with the shared roof, you can remove yours on your side and later on when you rebuilt the house, the neighbour roof is joined back to your house or just remained on their side but with proper water proofing done (at your cost). the shared car porch roof can also be demolished on your side. if there is no column to support their side of the car porch roof, you will likely need to see their permission to see how an additional column can be constructed to support their car porch roof on their side. again this is at your cost.

For now, you should just get the property agent to check and confirm if the house is sitting on a single landed title deed by itself. the seller can download the information from SLA free of charge to proof it as well.

after that, you can go to PUB website and purchase the SIP and DIP for the house to check if there's any public sewer running through the land and whether the land is subjected to drainage reserves as well. if there's sewer line running through the land, you may need to spend money to build a trench to protect the sewer when you rebuilt the house. any drainage reserves will mean you cannot built over that part of the land and it will need to be vested to the state for free as well.

Hi snoozee, besides DIP & SIP, as well as title  deed, are they any other information we should check on before considering purchasing a landed property please? Thanks for your kind advice. 

[snoozee 97]

7 hours ago, Nomadicsettler said:

Hi snoozee, besides DIP & SIP, as well as title  deed, are they any other information we should check on before considering purchasing a landed property please? Thanks for your kind advice. 

since your intention is to buy a landed house and redevelop it, those information should be enough. But if the target house is located along a main road (meaning not nested within a landed estate), you may want to buy the road line plan from SLA as well to see if there's any restrictions. Some houses which are situated along the main road may also need to vest portion(s) of the land for road infrastructure like bus-stops or future widening.

[Snowiewhitey 0]

Thanks so much @snoozee , you’re really very knowledgeable!! So if it’s any main road (eg a 4 lane road that cuts through an estate that people use to drive through) i probably shd obtain an RLP? 

[snoozee 97]

No harm buying the RLP as well since you will likely need it anyway if you end up buying the house.