Multi-dwelling builds
Dual occupancies, units and townhouses are a different job to a single home. The block decides what is possible long before the design does — setbacks, overshadowing, private open space, driveway crossovers and how many services the street can actually carry.
We look at all of that first, so you find out what your site will genuinely support before you spend money drawing something it will not. Then you get a scope and a price you can take to a lender.
You deal with Nathan throughout, and we self-perform most of the work, which is what keeps a multi-unit programme on its dates.
Get a free quote
Dual occupancy, units and townhouses
Dual occupancy. Two dwellings on one title or a subdivision, most often a second home behind an existing one. It is the most common first step for people unlocking value out of a block they already own.
Units and townhouses. Three or more dwellings, built as a programme rather than as one house repeated. The gains come from sequencing trades across the whole site, not from cutting the specification on each dwelling.
Investor or owner-occupier, the process is the same and you deal with the builder either way.
What your block will actually take
Every multi-dwelling site has a real limit, and it is set by planning rules rather than by the size of the land. Setbacks, overshadowing, private open space and car parking all bite before the square metres do.
We work that out with you at the start, with our building surveyor, so the yield you plan around is the yield you will get. It is far cheaper to find the limit on paper than in a planning refusal.
What catches people out on multi-unit sites
These are the three that turn a good-looking feasibility into a bad one, and all of them are knowable up front. None of them are things you can fix once the slab is down.
Services and the street
Power, water, sewer and stormwater have to take the extra dwellings, and the authority decides that, not the plan. An upgraded connection or a new crossover can be a five-figure line that nobody costed.
Site access for a whole programme
One house needs a truck in and out. Several dwellings need a working site with somewhere to stand a crane and stack materials. Tight access is the single biggest driver of multi-unit cost, and we run our own excavation, so we price it honestly.
Staging and cash flow
Lenders release against completed stages, so how the build is staged decides when you are out of pocket. We set the programme so the dwellings complete in an order your finance can live with.
Most of the site is run by our own crew
On a multi-unit site the risk is not one trade being poor, it is one trade being late and everything behind it moving. Licensed specialist trades such as electrical are external and we use our own preferred tradespeople — everything else is ours, so the programme is ours to hold.
Our own excavation
Bulk earthworks, footings and drainage across the whole site with our own machine and operator.
Our own retaining walls
Multi-unit sites are almost always benched. The retaining is structural and we build it.
Our own framing
Framing several dwellings back to back is where a programme is won or lost. Our carpenters do it.
Our own welding
Steel for garages, party walls and upper levels welded and bolted on site by us.
Our own landscaping
Driveways, common areas and private open space finished by us, so the site completes as one.
Specified to let or to sell
Fittings chosen for what the dwellings are for — durable for rental, saleable for market.
Find out what your site will support
Before you engage a town planner or draw a thing, we will walk the block with you and tell you what it will realistically carry and what it will cost to get there. You get a real feasibility rather than an optimistic one.
Get started todayAppreciated by our customers
We do our best work for every customer, and it shows through in their feedback.
See all reviewsWe were delighted with Nathan Hooper and the Elite Building and Construction Services team. Nathan was always focussed on delivering quality workmanship.
We had Nathan do some footings for us for a job, he was prompt, professional and very reasonable on price. It was pleasing to work with him.
After trying multiple shed builders to modify our shed without success, Elite said they could and did the job well.
Contacted Nathan and his crew to re-model my awful old shower.....they went above and beyond, and now my bathroom is absolutely beautiful!! The attention to detail and craftsmanship that went into (what I’m sure was) a challenging repair/re-build, was truly appreciated. Thank you for such a wonderful result!
How we run a multi-dwelling build
Several dwellings on one site is a programme, not a house repeated. This is the order we work in.
We test the site
Planning rules, services and access assessed first, so the yield you plan around is real.
We price the whole programme
One scope across every dwelling, staged to suit how your finance releases funds.
We build to the dates
Our own crew across excavation, retaining, framing, steel and landscaping keeps the sequence tight.
Multi-dwelling questions, answered
How many dwellings will my block take?
The limit is set by planning rules rather than by the size of the land. Setbacks, overshadowing, private open space and car parking usually bite before the square metres do. We work it out with you and our building surveyor at the start, so the yield you plan around is the yield you will get.
What usually costs more than people expect?
Services and access. Power, water, sewer and stormwater have to carry the extra dwellings and the authority decides that, not the plan — an upgraded connection or a new crossover can be a five-figure line nobody costed. Tight site access is the other one, and it is the single biggest driver of multi-unit cost.
Can the build be staged to suit my finance?
Yes, and it matters more here than on a single home. Lenders release against completed stages, so the order the dwellings finish in decides when you are out of pocket. We set the programme around that rather than around what is convenient on site.
Do you build for investors as well as owner-occupiers?
Both, and the process is the same either way. What changes is the specification — durable and low-maintenance where the dwellings will be tenanted, more saleable finishes where they are going to market.
Why does self-performing the work matter on a multi-unit site?
Because the risk is not one trade being poor, it is one trade being late and everything behind it moving. Excavation, retaining, framing, steel and landscaping are all our own crew, so the programme is ours to hold rather than something we are waiting on.
Do you handle the subdivision?
Subdivision is a surveying and legal process rather than a building one, so it sits with your surveyor and conveyancer. We work alongside them and make sure the build and the titles line up, and we will tell you early where the two processes affect each other.
Need something special?
Whether you’re facing a steep block, a complex architectural design, or just want a true custom build, Elite Building & Construction is the team that gets it done. Speak directly with Nathan Hooper and start planning your home today.