Some people have a problem finding extra land to build or expand their houses. They never know that the area close to their house, the laneway area, also could become the best place for their new house. It is called the Laneway house. There are many benefits you can get from having this kind of house near your main house. We can categorize them as the benefits for the homeowner and the community.
Laneway House Benefits for Homeowners
Homeowners can get various benefits from having a laneway house on their land. Here are some of them:
- Extra housing for family members – they can build a house for their family members, like elderly parents or their children who want to move out but don’t have enough budget to afford a new house.
- Extra income – the homeowners also can rent the laneway house. It generates extra income from the rental fee, plus it is also easier to monitor because the location is close to the main house.
- Allow them to live in the same neighborhood for a long time – they also can move to laneway house when all their children have moved out. Then, rent the main house for extra income. That will save more money for house maintenance.
- Increase the property value – the property value with laneway house is much higher than the standard house. You can even get an extra $100,000 because of the laneway house.
- Better chance to get a buyer for your property – a Laneway house also can attract more people to buy your property, if you plan to sell it because they know how beneficial this house is.
Laneway Houses Benefits for Community
Homeowners are not the only one that gets benefits from laneway house. The community or neighborhood where this house is built also gets many benefits from it, such as:
- Affordable rental housing – that community will have extra housing that people can rent at affordable prices.
- Improves the community safety – more laneway houses mean that more people live in that area. It reduces the empty or quiet area that can invite a problematic group of people to stay here.
- Preserve the community character – most of the laneway houses use a similar design to the main house. Therefore, it can improve the looks and the building character of that community. So, it preserves the unique thing about that area.
- Better energy efficiency – laneway house doesn’t use the resource as much as an apartment or other living house buildings. Many of them even use an independent energy source, like using solar panels. Therefore, it contributes to making the neighborhood even greener and environmentally friendlier.
Conclusion
While it offers many benefits, Laneway house is not the first option for many people who need living places. They only see it as a temporary house and are afraid to choose it as a living place. However, many countries have started the campaign to use this house as alternative housing. So, we can expect that those benefits will come into reality soon.