Should I build a granny flat for my Elderly relatives or buy a ready made Tiny Home, Granny Flat or Caravan
Firstly let's address the elephant in the room....your elderly relatives may not have the time it takes to go through council with a development application and then build...they could be in their 90’s and not getting any younger so an immediate solution could be the best solution.
Now lets look at the financial aspect...Granny Flats used to be around $100k-$150k plus council contributions...that figure is now closer to $150k-$200k because of inflation, building materials ect ect, add on $20-$30k in council contributions and furnishing it and you have spent $250k
If you rent out your granny flat on your property for top dollar $600 a week after your relative has moved on to that big granny flat in the sky, then it would take you around 8-10 years to pay it off..and more than likely the people you sell your house too will just bulldoze it down as they do not want another person living on their property..
So lets look at a transportable housing option of around $40k, repayments on this will be around $150-$200 dollars a week and its ready to use...more thana likely your elderly relative will be on a pension which will cover this amount.
Once your relative has passed on then you can either sell it on and the depreciation will be less than the amount contributed to the until or you can rent it for more than the repayments are for the unit so eventually you will own it in only a few years instead of paying a granny flat off for 10 years.
Around 20% of people in Australia live in a multi generation household and its increasing, Canada, our brother across the pond has seen a 40% increase.
Nursing homes are over crowded because unfortunately nobody's dying and we are living longer and longer so the problems are increasing..
Multi generational households are common but this also leads to many problems including privacy...you want quality of life for your parents or grand parents but you really don’t want them living in the same house.
Granny flats offer a unique solution to this problem affecting almost 20% of the population, you can have privacy but also good care of your relatives.
On the other hand with rising prices and inflation both parents need to work to pay bills so elderly relatives can also look after the children.
The make up of families is different with blended families, divorces and financial instability forcing generations to live together.
The main drawback in all of this are the myriad of different rules and regulations statewide and no blanket policy Australia wide...