Owner-operated builds across Frenchs Forest, Davidson, and Belrose. Big blocks, easy CDC pathway, family-suburb prices. The straightforward end of the Northern Beaches granny flat market.
Frenchs Forest is the inland part of the Northern Beaches Council LGA — set back from the coast, surrounded by bushland reserves, and dominated by family blocks established in the 1960s and 70s. From a granny flat builder’s perspective it’s one of the most straightforward suburbs to work in: blocks are big, mostly flat, established homes are typically single-storey brick, and the council pathway is almost always CDC. None of the heritage scrutiny of Manly, none of the bushfire complexity of Avalon, none of the slope challenges of Newport plateau.
Block sizes in Frenchs Forest typically run 700 to 1,100 square metres, which gives you plenty of room to drop a granny flat without crowding the original home or the rear yard. Most blocks have generous side access — usually 3 metres or more — which means materials get trucked in cleanly and the slab and frame go up fast. The combination of big block, flat ground, easy access, and clean council pathway makes Frenchs Forest one of the cheaper Northern Beaches suburbs to build in despite being inside a high-value LGA.
Three things to flag about Frenchs Forest builds. First, the Northern Beaches Hospital opened in 2018 and demand for accommodation near it has shifted the rental market — short-term rental for visiting medical staff and family members of patients is now a viable strategy on a Frenchs Forest granny flat, alongside the more typical long-term rental. Second, several Frenchs Forest streets back onto Garigal National Park or Manly Dam Reserve, which puts those blocks into a low-level bushfire overlay (BAL-12.5 typically). It’s a manageable spec, just price it in. Third, Forestway runs through the suburb and some blocks closer to it have residual contamination from older industrial uses — a Section 10.7 cert and a quick soil test handle this on the rare occasions it matters.
Most Frenchs Forest customers we quote are after a 3-bedroom family granny flat for adult children, an elderly parent who wants their own space, or a returning relative. Turnkey range on a typical Frenchs Forest block runs $200k to $280k, which is at the lower end of Northern Beaches pricing because the build is so straightforward. A standard 2-bedroom on a flat 800 sqm block with no overlays typically lands around $230k turnkey.
Big flat blocks, clean CDC pathway, generous side access. Send the address, Nathan will come walk it, and you’ll likely have a quote inside a week.
