45% minimum size - what the?

We reviewed the design guidelines the other day and noticed one that stated that the house (excluding porches, alfrescos, balconies) must be a minimum of 45% of the lot size. What? That means an internal living area of 396sqm! That's 43 squares inside!!!

I sent an email off to our Urban Pacific contact to question this - perhaps they meant maximum size of the house? Nope - they meant minimum. This seems reasonable for the average lot - at around 600-700sqm - you can build a great 34 square house to meet these requirements for a reasonable price.

Unfortunately for us - project builders don't do interesting home designs for 43+ squares - only huge boxes (which are outlawed by our design covenants).

The Urban Pacific guy has said that this requirement would be flexible for large lot owners such as ourselves and would be open to "negotiation". Our plan is for somthing at the 41 square range in total (including outdoor areas). We have a few good arguments for a smaller home such as increase green space and decrease impact on the environment because there is less area to light/heat/cool etc.

We've also been told that major construction begins 1 July 07 - yay! Though I don't know if they will stick to this date. They've also put in an expected date for settlement as February 2008. Even with a few months delay - we should be in our new home by Christmas 2008 (thank goodness - my mum's family has been waiting a few years for our house to be ready as it will be our turn to host Xmas dinner for around 50 people).

Urban Pacific will need to have basic roads and gutters in place by October so that we will be ready to start in February - our design must go through the Urban Pacific Design Panel (3 weeks) then Blacktown Council (2 months) - plus any changes they'll want us to make. We've used 4 months for this process in our time lines.

Let's hope the weather stays fine and heavy earthworks at the estate go smoothly!