The “challenging” dilemma facing city homes with too much space

This couple is selling their home with a premium land packet near the city – but if buyers want to subdivide it, they’ll be facing a tricky challenge.

Brisbane couple Bruce and Naysa Cox own a city home with a huge patch of land dedicated to a tennis court; but even if they wanted to subdivide it, they aren’t sure how they could.

“The tennis court is surrounded by a lot of houses,” Mr Cox said. “It’s kind of landlocked – you’ve got to go down a long driveway and some steps. The access to my property is relatively narrow … to design and put in housing, it’d be somewhat challenging to put in a steep block.”

The two have decided to sell their Windsor home at a time when more Queenslanders are holding onto their tennis courts.

Bruce and Naysa Cox with their son Riley on the tennis court of their Windsor home. The family are selling the home, during a time where many keeping onto their tennis court properties. Picture: Lachie Millard

Ray White data has found listings for homes with tennis courts have fallen to their lowest level in more than 10 years, often selling with premiums of up to 30 per cent.

Across all of Brisbane, only 42 of these properties were listed for sale in the past 12 months.

Mr Cox said he bought the house at 74 Constitution Rd with the hope of using the court for tennis; but after a few years, the family realised it was better suited for other things.

“Maintaining a grass tennis court for tennis purposes – rolling it and keeping the weeds and grass very short – is so much work!” he said. “It wasn’t used enough as a tennis court to justify all the work to maintain it.”

74 Constitution Road, Windsor. It’s one of only a select few tennis court homes on the market, with only 42 having been listed for sale in the past 12 months.

Instead, the family began to use it for different sports and larger parties on their property.

“When we were having a barbecue it was used for badminton, used for cricket. You name a sport, we’ve probably played it there,” he said. “For my son’s birthday, my wife set up laser tag … there are certain locations that hire blow-up obstacles that the kids can hide around.”

Brisbane prestige property agent Snezana Harris from Grace and Keenan sold the vendors the house a decade ago.

Tennis court properties near the city can be difficult to subdivide, due to their position or the value of the home as a premium package.

Ms Harris said it was extremely rare to find a home with a private tennis court in Windsor, which made the property more valuable.

“Buyers’ agents contact me looking for properties with either the ability to put [a tennis court] in or one with them,” she said.

“A lot of these owners have children who perhaps have grown up, left home, but are now coming back because it’s so expensive to rent.”

The Cox family said they felt a tennis court area was often better suited for other sports that require less upkeep, or even for large community events. Picture: Lachie Millard

While city areas with tennis court land are incredibly valuable, Mr Cox said he didn’t feel most buyers would be interested in building on the land.

“A lot of the properties that have got tennis courts are relatively well established, expensive buildings that you wouldn’t pull down,” he said. “Unless the house is derelict, and that’s pretty unlikely [near the city].”

While he’s seen little interest in building, Mr Cox said one interested buyer had other plans for the court.

“Their intention is not to subdivide, their intention is … for cricket,” he said.

“I suspect that most tennis courts are zoned in areas where a block of flats is unlikely to be built … [but] having a tennis court in that space encourages you to share it.”

Originally published as The “challenging” dilemma facing city homes with too much space