About Us!

"House Behind House" specialises in Designing, Planning, and Building on rear strata and battle-axe lots. We believe in simplifying a very complicated process and making your building experience easier!

We Believe - 

• You deserve a clearer understanding of rear lot development

• Pioneering house design specialist service

• Accountable and best-price quotations

• In choosing the best and most appropriate builder for your project!

• Full flexibility in the design, administration and building process

“We Guarantee To Make YOUR Building Project Easier!”

Our services! 

• Property development feasibility and cost analysis

• Forecast resale valuation

• On-site inspections

• Market-leading design skills

• Title process and creation

• Council and construction project management

• Finance troubleshooting and advanced recommendations

• Administration and construction timelines

• The leading-edge house behind house, battle-axe & rear strata lot block knowledge!

Our Point of difference!

Because we are fully independent, we are not forced to use any specific builder or specification. We help choose the builder most suited to your requirements and project type without YOU paying any extra! (curious read on!)

As we are past building consultants with a proven track record, builders have no problem allowing us to feed them external work directly! Our business has not had to use the builders marketing budget, display home budgets etc, so we receive highly competitive pricing. Most of our clients save 3% to 6% on an apples for apples comparison! Our business model simply serves the building public better by providing more choice and a better pricing outcome! 

When building a new home in your backyard, there are three times as many checks & balances that have to be taken into account. 

The biggest misconception when developing on a rear block is -

1. The unique house plan (is it for immediate-sale, rental or to live-in!)

2. Technical know-how at the council level (council policy/agendas & existing precedence)

3. Troubleshooting capability that is involved in completing a project successfully

   
   

Our company offers a one-stop-shop with specialists in Sales, Design, Project Management, and most importantly, flexibility with who you build with! 

The Builder Trap! 

Yes, there is a saying (behind closed doors) called the builder trap. This is where an uneducated client walks into a builder for assistance and help. The builder designs a home and presents a quote. The client upon receiving the quotation asks, “I’d like to get some additional quotes” and the builder says “No we have copyright over this house plan, if you like the design you have to build with us!” This is the builder trap... Our company offers both options 1) deal in-house with builders or 2) Design a copywriting-free design that can be shopped so you know you're getting the best price!

Who can I build with! 

Special Honors about our Team!

• HIA Green-smart Accredited

• CERT 4 in Customer Contact

• HIA State awards in Sales excellence

• Over 300+ commendations, Testimonials, and Recommendations

• Hundreds of successfully completed rear strata and house behind house projects

Damon’s Story 

When I first started my career at Collier Homes, I had no idea where I would be today! I remember my first day walking into a top 5 building group and being completely in awe of the different roles and departments. What stood out straight away was how organised and efficient everyone had to be. 

Being completely green to everything it took me just over 2 months to get my first sale. A couple of days later it dawned on me, my advice and knowledge were guiding my first client. It was scary thinking about it, that my recommendations and input we're having a direct impact on my clients future. Once I understood this, I went out of my way to learn from the most experienced and best possible people about the building industry, particularly building sales, council planning, project management, and design. 

Two building consultants had their own office space and specialised exclusively in unit developments. I really liked the technical nature of this area of construction. On occasion, I would speak to them and was amazed at how different their designs and quotations were in comparison to building on a rectangular green titled block. As an example, my quotations for standard residential construction would fit completely on 1 or 2 pages, but a unit development or house behind house quotation took up 4 to 6 pages! I quickly learned that even if I was lucky enough to be a professional projects building consultant, selling unit developments, I would require years of residential housing sales experience. It was like choosing between a general practitioner and a veteran brain surgeon. 

4 years later I was offered a building consultancy role at Dale Alcock Homes. On one occasion, I had the opportunity granted to me by the sales manager to design and quote a home on a green titled battle axe block in Scarborough (Perth metro area). I was eager to prove my knowledge and technical know-how to the client and company. After 3 months of administration and contract preparation, I remember sitting down with the newlywed couple at 7 a.m. to present to the clients the final council approved contracts, prices, and working drawings. As I thoroughly went through the contracts with the customers, I started to see changes to the house design and prices for items I did not know of and had never come across before! While sitting In front of the client's, I realised my design skills to what the council wanted and my knowledge of building a house-behind-house, plus the extensive nature of the site works costs, was low. I was deeply embarrassed and just wanted to finish the meeting and get out of the room. Needless to say, the clients didn't sign their contracts that day, but luckily (with a bit of help from within the group) we did a couple of weeks later and all ended well! 

This was my first true and real-life lesson in the complexities of building on a rear block. I vowed that day I was going to learn every single thing there was to know about unit developments and building in peoples backyards. 

After having a very fruitful and successful career of over 300 new home sales I was lucky enough to earn State Sales Awards through the Housing Industry Association. I felt I was now ready to move into a full-time project development career specialising in rear strata, duplex and triplex developments. I understood Council policy, and even new planning officers by their first names. I had a full understanding of Engineering requirements both for the home, the driveway reversing requirements and the soil types that you encounter in different suburbs. 8 years on, I moved to Gemmill Projects as a “Projects Development Consultant”. In this time, I become an expert designer and project manager for my clients. As my knowledge and confidence grew, I would challenge the council's decisions and write technical justification letters so my plans were approved exactly how I first presented them to my clients. My knowledge of the design codes and council policy was as good as any shire planning officer. 

On one occasion in the City of Victoria Park, the planning officer would not move or allow our development to go ahead. Being now highly experienced and confident in my skills and trade, I challenged the City of Victoria Park and took my case to the State Administrative Tribunal in Perth (S.A.T). We achieved a 90% positive outcome for the clients who were elated with the results. 

Developing in Perth today!

Jump 10 years to the present and building a development in Perth is now more complicated due to further Government requirements.

As an example - 

• All homes must now meet bushfire requirements consisting of thicker glass panels, aluminum doors, thicker eave lining, etc (10 years ago this rule didn't exist) Approx costs $4,500

• All homes must now meet 6-star energy requirements (10 years ago this rule didn't exist) Approx costs $14,000

• There is now an acoustic requirement for homes building on moderate to busy roads, (10 years ago this rule didn't exist) Approx costs $8,000

• Some councils have requirements for solar panels, rainwater storage and wall insulation to east and west, (10 years ago this rule didn't exist) Approx costs $25.000

• There is now twice as much council planning policy to comply with to meet councils satisfaction. Examples of the latest requirements are the City of Bayswater require an established tree within your building envelope taking away 16m2 of building space!

Why use a specialist Team!

 In a nutshell, building in inner-city areas around Perth has become more complicated and requires skilled and experienced people who know what they're doing! I hope you can see our expertise really will help your building journey!