Granny flats – affordable accommodation for aged care or young adults

Tim Shaw for 2CC Breakfast Canberra – podcast interview about Scandinavian granny flats as affordable accommodation for aged care or young adults with Murray Fleming, backyard cabins builder in Canberra. You can listen to the interview on YouTube or read the interview transcript below.

Tim Shaw: They’re calling it The Canberra Home Building Caravan, Tourism, Four Wheel Drive and Camping Show kicking off at EPIC this morning and it continues all this weekend. A range of stalls including a display by Canberra Outdoor Structures. Now, who the heck are Canberra Outdoor Structures?
They’re showcasing some of their backyard cabins and Scandinavian granny flats, which I think is extraordinary, including one of their Scandinavian granny flats that has been constructed and fully furnished for the show. Now to tell us more about it, Queanbeyan-based Canberra Outdoor Structures’ Murray Fleming is on the line.

Good day, Murray!

Murray Fleming: Morning Tim!

Tim Shaw: So tell us about Canberra outdoor structures and more importantly the Scandinavian-inspired granny flat which you’ve actually constructed and fully furnished just for the show at EPIC.

Murray Fleming: Yea, we’ve been selling these for a while, Tim, but we did quite a lot of research and the smaller models that we were selling, whilst there was quite high demand for them, the bigger demand was for structures of forty square meters size to go into backyards for multiple uses: aged care accommodation, obviously, but children who can’t quite scrape up enough money for a mortgage there don’t leave home and so that, and guest accommodation and/or rentals. That’s why we’ve designed them and constructed this one and released them for the first time actually in the world.

Tim Shaw: Well done, well done. Tell us about- what do you call the Scandinavian-inspired one, which model do you call that one?

Murray Fleming: Well this one’s called the Cyprus because we’ve got three forty square metre models but this one’s got one bedroom with a separate bathroom and a combined kitchenette and living area.

Tim Shaw: Now it comes in pre-cut flat packed kits and it’s delivered on pallets. A studio can be assembled in three days. So you were at EPIC, you’ve got the show on today, tomorrow and Sunday, so you and the team, you delivered one of the Cyprus pre-cut flat packs and you’ve actually constructed it on site for EPIC this weekend.

Murray Fleming: Yea that’s correct. And on the steel flooring system. There’s quite a lot of effort obviously just for a three day show but as I said it’s the first time one of these models has been made. They come from Lithuania; first time it’s been not made for anywhere in the world and so we thought it was a good place to release it.

Tim Shaw: What kind of money are we talking if we have room in the backyard for one of these, as you call it the forty square metres Cyprus, if I want to have it all delivered and me and my mates assemble it ourselves or if we want to buy it, get it delivered, and have some professionals assemble it for us? What kind of money are we talking?

Murray Fleming: Yea well, the kit’s around $50,000 and for another $10,000 we could put it up. Realistically we tell our clients to allow somewhere around $90,000 to include your kitchenette, and your plumbing and electrical approvals. Which, when you compare it to the cost of going into aged care accommodation home, for $50,000+ is quite good value.

Tim Shaw: Absolutely. CanberraHomeShow.com.au What is your website details for Canberra Outdoor Structures?

Murray Fleming: It’s just canberrastructures.com.au and it’s got the facebook link [www.facebook.com/canberraoutdoorstructures/] there as well, it shows the photos of it [Cyprus granny flat] going up on accelerated form [time lapse videos], and we’re looking forward to a successful show!

Tim Shaw: Well done! Congratulations Murray, a terrific idea, the 40 square metre Cyprus Granny flat and you’re right about those high costs of aged care and moving into nursing home. Having nan and pop in the backyard, being so close family members, what a terrific idea. Murray have a great show at EPIC – The Canberra Home Building Caravan, Tourism, Four Wheel Drive and Camping Show kicking off today at EPIC. Have a cracker weekend, Murray!
Murray Fleming from Canberra Outdoor Structures, they’re based in Queanbeyan, and isn’t that terrific? They actually delivered the granny flat to EPIC and then assembled it. Now, it’s a big effort, but boy oh boy, how good would that be? Go and have a look at it!