Prior to purchase

Before getting too far into planning and designing your development project - you have to find a good site. Buy the wrong property - and you may not even be able to develop it, at all. Then you will also want to know if, and what planning permits you'll need and the likelihood of getting those approvals, and all the ways you can develop a property to maximise your financial gains. This is what integrated town planning is and is what aup town planning does - advise and assist developers from the very start of the process, right through to completion.

Not every piece of land can be developed for every type of development.

You may know about zones for instance - but not how to find what zone a property is in, or what types of development zones allow and don't allow.

aup town planning shows you how to find and interpret planning scheme zone maps and provisions so you know where to look.

We can also get you in touch with specialists who can help you find properties in the right zones, for the best price.

Most zones allow property to be used and developed for multiple, and often combined, purposes - giving developers various ways to maximise its development potential and their financial gains - and how much to bid for a property.

Again, aup town planning's depth of knowledge and experience, and willingness to go where other planning consultants won't, or can't, means we're a developer's best choice when it comes to finding out how much to pay for a property and how it can be developed to maximise financial gains.

What you can do and not do with land often isn't just controlled by planning schemes. There are other 'thigs' to consider - some of which can outright prohibit a property from being developed, and others which can constrain development so much its effectively undevelopable.

This is what a due diligence investigation is all about. It's the first step every property developer should take before buying property - because once you buy, it may be too late, especially in Queensland given the complete absence of vendor disclosure laws.

Most planning consultants do a 'desk-top' assessment of the property - review the titles documents, the planning scheme, and planning regulation.

We know this isn't enough. In real life every piece of land looks different that it does on paper, so we always do a site inspection and look at its slope, vegetation cover, whether there are any drains or water courses running right down the middle of it, what the abutting land uses are, etc.

We also look for past applications and decisions by Council because Councils (especially on the Sunshine Coast) often have their own way of interpreting planning schemes - and if they refuse your development its very hard getting their decision reversed.

Likelihood of getting approved:

Once you've had a due diligence check done - there's more you can find out about whether you're likely to get an approval for the type of development you're interested in, and what you have to go through (i.e. how much it's going to cost and how long it will take) to get it. This is one area where aup town planning excels over other planning consultants because of our intimate knowledge of the property development process - not just town planning.

We go deep - first to determine the likelihood of getting approved - apart from going over the planning scheme and regulation with a fine-tooth comb - we investigate past applications and decisions for the site AND abutting properties, find relevant court decisions, go over reports prepared for similar developments.

Costs and timelines:

More than at any other time developments (and developers) are falling over because of the rising costs of development and delays (read why time is so important to development below).

aup town planning provides estimates for engaging the sub-consultant you'll need to undertake investigations and prepare reports and plans to prepare and lodge an application; statutory fees; the assessment process itself; and post-assessment/decision - such as complying with permit conditions, etc.

For subdivision we can also provide estimates on developer contributions fees and any 'off-site works' Council may insist you complete at your own cost.

NB: in property development time definitely means money. Once you buy a property, the longer it takes to complete construction the more you pay in landholding costs - servicing loans, paying rates and insurance pro-rata, etc. (even a basic 700m2 residential lot can incur landholding fees in excess of %$5,000 per month).