Unknowingly Rented a Granny Flat

dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 16:25
Last edited 23/04/2019 - 16:26

I have a kinda strange issue with the house that I've rented.

It's a subdivision (or so I thought) of an older house in Inner West Sydney - 2 bedroom self contained house out the back completely seperate to the front house (there's a fence - you can't even get to the front property and need to enter mine via a laneway). When I rented it the address wouldn't show up on Google - asked the real estate if it's a Granny Flat and was told absolutely not - just a mistake on Google. Unfortunately I have none of this in writing - was all verbal at the time of renting, you don't really think of getting them to write down "this is not a granny flat" when doing a rental.

There's been ongoing issues with the address, when I first moved in I couldn't give the electricity or gas company the address - had to give them meter numbers which bizarrely are registered to a unit in another suburb. It also doesn't have a post box (was initially told by the real estate that it had PO Box but after renting it they told me they were mistaken and I'd have to rent one myself - wasn't a massive deal as I get sent mail to work).

The big issue I have now is that the NBN has arrived in my area - and after placing my order with Telstra because the ADSL2+ is horrendous - Telstra have come back and said my house isn't eligible because it's classified as a granny flat, only the front house is eligible - and now in hindsight that makes total sense - and it being a granny flat would explain every issue I've had with it since I've moved in.

I guess my question is - is there anything I can do about it?

Nowhere on my lease does it mention anything about it being a granny flat (although maybe it doesn't have to?), I've spoken to the real estate again and asked if it's a granny flat and they just give me vague responses that aren't a yes or no (unlike when I first looked at the house and they told me it absolutely wasn't) and that they'll look into it.

I know this may seem like an overreaction to not being able to get NBN, but it's more a sum of all the parts and the house giving me issues (for example I've never been able to change my licence over to a NSW licence from WA because none of my utility bills have my actual address on them as this address doesn't seem to actually exist) and given the exorbitant Sydney rent - it seems insane to be having all these issues on a place that's costing me a small fortune.

Is this something that is worthy of getting out of a lease early - or am I best to suck it up for the next 6 months, be nice to the real estate and look for somewhere else then?

Home & Garden

Comments

  • garetz on 23/04/2019 - 16:35
    +23

    Get out of the lease asap, you are being taken for a ride, you should be paying alot less for a granny flat, it seems like they are trying to have their cake and eat it too at your expense.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 16:41
    +6

    What is the address on your lease? Is it the same as the main house or did they add 'b' or '2' in it, for e.g 7b sunshine ave or 2/7 sunshine ave?

    Edit: Check your bond receipt. Section 29(4)(a) of the Residential Tenancies Act 1987 requires that the receipt includes the address of the premises for which the bond has been paid. You shouldn't be able to lodge the bond with a made-up address.

    • dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 17:46

      Thanks! The bond receipt definitely says 'Rear of' - not sure I have any recourse they could probably say that makes it clear it's a granny flat.

      Funnily enough I've never been able to use the 'Rear of' address on any utility I've ever connected - they all have to be through meter numbers or the main address.

      • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 17:51
        +6

        It would appear that they require local council approval before renting a granny house to a non-family member. Would be interesting to find out if they did get that approval. If they didn't, you might be able to use that info to get out of your lease or re-negotiate your rent.

        Source: Factsheet

        Edit: NVM. Looks like you're in NSW now.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 16:42
    +6

    What is the address on the lease?

    If the lease mentions the address of the house, move into the house.

    If the lease mentions an invalid address, you're not contractually bound.

    • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 17:00

      How would you ascertain that the address is invalid?

      • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 17:01

        Deed to the property.

    • dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 17:31

      The address on the lease says "Rear of XX XXXXX Street".

      I don't really know how I'd figure out if it's an invalid address or not though.

      • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 17:33
        +4

        It's an ancillary dwelling aka a granny house then.

  • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 16:42
    +16

    I think you should get professional advice from the relevant state body.

    • one man clan on 23/04/2019 - 16:48
      +3

      Not sure why this is downvoted (perhaps the "relevant state body" part) but you really need to get professional advice about this. It sounds really shonky. Speak to your local community legal centre or tenants advice centre.

      • dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 17:42
        +1

        Thanks! I just rang Tenancy Advice who said they can't really help but pointed me in the direction of Fair Trading NSW so I'll give them a buzz tomorrow.

        • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 21:13
          +2

          I guess that is why I got down voted because tenancy advice are useless AF.

  • jjjaar on 23/04/2019 - 17:35
    +3

    Contact the local council (or better yet go in to their offices). They will have an online database of all the subdivided properties and will be able to let you know if it’s been subdivided or if it’s a second dwelling on the same block (ie a granny flat).

    Alternatively you should be able to find this information from a statutory planning body online. I’m not familiar with the Western Australian planning industry, but it may be this website: https://www.planning.wa.gov.au/PlanWA.aspx

    • dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 17:47

      I'm in NSW now - I recently moved from WA.

      Thanks for the advice!

      • Crownie on 23/04/2019 - 17:52
        +5

        You should change your OzBargain profile location to NSW then as it confuses some users that cannot read a thread properly.
        OzBargain doesn't need your 'actual address' for a user to change location either ;)

  • mskeggs on 23/04/2019 - 17:35
    +1

    Your landlord can easily apply for a secondary address for the granny flat. It is allocated by the local council. My sister recently did this in The Central Coast and it just took a single email.
    This won’t impact utilities like power and gas unless they install separate meters.
    It should sort out the nbn issue if you have infrastructure to the building, I would think.

    • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 17:38

      Did your sister require approval from the council before renting it out in the first place?

      • mskeggs on 23/04/2019 - 17:43
        +1

        Yes, in that is was a complying development, so had a council development approval process. But this is to construct a habitable dwelling, she didn’t require further approval to occupy it or rent it.

    • dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 17:47

      Good to know - thanks for the advice!

  • whooah1979 on 23/04/2019 - 18:23

    Telstra have come back and said my house isn't eligible because it's classified as a granny flat,

    The Rep gave you incorrect information. An NBN lead-in may be constructed to a granny flats as long as it has a LOC ID.

    https://blog.iinet.net.au/understanding-your-nbn-status/#com…

    https://mrtelco.com/blog/nbn-cabling-installation-granny-fla…

    • Nousernamehere on 23/04/2019 - 21:19

      Literally neither of those links say anything about getting a LOC ID for a granny flat, so no clue what you’re on about. Try maybe linking to the actual NBN site?

      In most cases, outbuildings or granny flats that share the same address as the primary residence on a block of land cannot apply for a new nbn™ broadband access network connection – each connection must be linked to a unique address.

      The OP has clearly said it’s a granny flat and doesn’t even have its own address, so no chance to get an NBN connection/LOC ID for it.

      • whooah1979 on 23/04/2019 - 22:09
        -1

        New LOC ID are assigned when the construction plan gets periodically updated by NBN from new data. Granny flats that are included in the drawings get a LOC ID and a leadin drop.

        https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/452498#comment-7193806

        • Nousernamehere on 23/04/2019 - 22:14
          -1

          Granny flats that are included in the drawings get a LOC ID and a leadin drop.

          They clearly don’t if they share the same address as the primary dwelling, which the vast majority of granny flats do. Just because a certain council does it easily, every single council has different policies and procedures for it.

          Did you even bother to read the link I posted?

          • whooah1979 on 23/04/2019 - 22:20
            -1

            @Nousernamehere:

            Did you even bother to read the link I posted?

            There is no need to read it. There are information that isn't published online that shows otherwise.

            • Nousernamehere on 23/04/2019 - 22:22
              -1

              @whooah1979: Thanks, you’ve just shown you don’t have a clue what you’re on about.

        • dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 22:34

          Well iiNet were more helpful than Telstra and think it could be possible. No guarantees though but they're trying to submit the property to NBN and will let me know how they go.

  • JIMB0 on 23/04/2019 - 18:24
    +9

    I'd stop paying the utility bills if they're registered to a different address. Can't be disconnected if they don't know your address.

    • [Deactivated] on 24/04/2019 - 11:29

      That is so dishonest. If you're using the service ( the serial number listed on the meter and the meter number listed on the bill are the same), you pay the bill.

      • Gnosh on 24/04/2019 - 12:43

        Not if you can’t ascertain what portion of the bill(s) you’re responsible for.

        • [Deactivated] on 24/04/2019 - 12:46

          If you have a meter at your place and you're the only one living there, you're liable for the whole bill.

          Withholding payments is not a solution. If Op has doubts , he should be contacting his gas provider.

  • spackbace on 23/04/2019 - 20:00

    Yeesh!

    How and where was it listed? On a major site or Gumtree?

    • dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 22:32

      Major site and managed by a large relatively well thought of real estate agency.

      • spackbace on 23/04/2019 - 22:39
        +4

        Might be worth digging up the ad, and seeing if it was falsely advertised

        Google cache etc etc

  • Meho2026 on 23/04/2019 - 21:37
    +9

    I used to rent a basement unit of a house in NSW.
    Real estate managed the place, owner lived in main house, our address “Rear of …”
    Council didn’t recognise 2 homes on one title so shared bins and mail box.
    No problem getting driving licence address as Rear of (street number). RMS had the rear of on licence and car rego papers.
    There was a seperate electricity meter so that bill was to Rear of Street address.
    Therefore had licence, rego, electricity and all bank statements etc as proof of address.
    Had our own Telstra connection too
    All of that can be done.
    The only issue is the council but that’s the owners problem.
    Only disadvantage I had was getting a residents parking permit, had to pay more because only one residence recognised and main residence had parking, council charges premium for street permit if residence has own off street parking.
    The owner was a total witch and watched us like a hawk so it didn’t last long.
    Get out of there, only mental people rent out their propertiy like that

    • codinghelloworld on 24/04/2019 - 09:57

      Vote this.

      Had inspected a property few weeks ago, landlord live in the main house while rent out part of the house to the tenant. And "part" of the house has a private door which can be opened only by landlord. Lots of windows and 2 cameras point to that "part", also there is no car space, which parking on the street is the only option.

      This raise me some questions:
      - privacy, camera
      - landlord able to open the secret door to tenant area

      Personally I would avoid this straight away.

  • dmac80 on 23/04/2019 - 22:37

    The one that really confuses me is the Gas bill. I had to register the gas bill with a meter number but that meter number is for a house in Redfern (I live nowhere near Redfern). All my bills (which come via email) have that address on it. Is there any logical reason why they'd have another address on it and not mine? The real estate says it's not an issue and not to worry about it.

    • [Deactivated] on 23/04/2019 - 23:33
      +2

      By now, you should know not to trust the RE. Moving forward, try to get him to put things in writing.

      According to an AGL rep:

      the 'supply' address, or the address associated with your meter, can sometimes differ from your residential address depending on how it was documented when the meter was installed. The truly important detail to confirm when you receive your first bill is to ensure that the serial number physically listed on your meter and the meter number listed on your bill correspond.

      Redfern could have been the owner's previous address. It should have been entered as the 'billing address' in the system but someone fudged up and entered it as the 'supply address'.

  • User210686 on 24/04/2019 - 08:54

    On a side note, I would keep my WA license if I were you. NSW penalty schedule is ridiculous, and from what I hear from my friend who holds a WA license, WA doesn’t apply demerit points you cop interstate (NSW, QLD at least).

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