Development Applications in Collaroy, NSW

Development activity in Collaroy

Look, if you’re working in residential construction on the Northern Beaches, you already know Collaroy is a different beast to the newer estates out west. The housing stock here is a real mix. You’ve got solid brick and tile houses from the 60s and 70s, some real old fibro cottages that have been patched up twenty times, and then those big modern homes that went up in the last decade, mostly after the storms reminded everyone what a 10-metre setback looks like. The streets off Pittwater Road, like Ocean Grove and Jenkins Street, still have that classic mid-century feel, but the pockets closer to the beach have seen a lot of full knockdowns. That said, the real bread and butter right now isn’t the knockdown-rebuild. It’s the first-floor additions and home extensions. That’s where the work is. We’ve had four development applications lodged in the area lately, and three of them were exactly that – adding a storey or pushing out the back.

Why? Because the people buying here aren’t cashed-up investors looking to flip. They’re families already living in Collaroy who don’t want to leave. They bought in ten or fifteen years ago when the median was half what it is now. Now their kids are teenagers, they need another bedroom and a proper bathroom, but they can’t afford to buy into Freshwater or Dee Why at current prices. So they stay, and they build up. The typical client is a renovator, often a couple in their forties with decent equity. They’ve got a mortgage, but they’ve also got a line of credit and a clear idea of what they want. They don’t want a McMansion. They want a functional family home that doesn’t look like a box. They want a master suite with an ensuite and a walk-in, or they want to knock out the back wall and put in a proper open-plan kitchen-living area that opens onto a north-facing deck. The second-storey additions are trickier because of the council’s height limits and the visual impact from the street, but if you do your homework, it’s doable.

Now, the local council – and I’m not naming names, but you know who I mean – they’ve got a reputation. Turnaround on a standard DA for a home extension is sitting around four to five months if everything’s clean. If you’ve got a tree, or a neighbour who likes to write letters, add another two. The common conditions you’ll see are the usual: shadow diagrams, landscape plans, and a real focus on stormwater management. Collaroy had that big east coast low in 2016, and the council hasn’t forgotten. They want to see detention tanks, they want to see overland flow paths, and they want to see them engineered properly. Don’t try to fudge it. Also, if you’re working near the beachfront, the geotechnical reports are non-negotiable. The sand here is deep, and the water table is high. I’ve seen more than one builder get caught out by a slab that started moving six months after handover. Do a proper borehole test.

The other active project type, besides extensions, is what I’d call ‘other’ – which usually means granny flats, studio spaces, or converting a garage into a liveable room. That’s the investor side of the market. Not big money, but steady work. The owners are often older, looking to rent out a flat for passive income or house an ageing parent. Collaroy has a surprising number of these older homeowners who bought in the 80s and now sit on a block that’s worth a fortune but a house that’s falling down. They don’t want to sell because the capital gains tax would kill them. So they build a small secondary dwelling out the back. It’s a niche, but it pays the bills. Just be aware the council has tightened up on parking and site coverage for these. You can’t just throw a flat in the backyard anymore. You need to prove there’s enough room for a car, and that the neighbour’s view isn’t blocked.

The market itself is steady, not booming. Prices have softened a bit from