Granny flats are officially called ‘secondary dwellings’. They are an affordable way to create more housing.
Secondary dwellings are generally:
- Self-contained, with a habitable room, kitchen area, bath or shower and toilet, and clothes washing facilities
- On the same property as a single existing home, which has at least 450 square metres of land
- Within or attached to the existing home, or freestanding
- No more than 60 square metres in floor area.
You can only have one secondary dwelling on a property.
Secondary dwellings cannot be subdivided from the main house and sold separately.
Getting approval
Requests for approval to build a secondary dwelling are usually considered under the Affordable Housing State Environmental Planning Policy (AHSEPP).
There are two paths to getting approval:
Complying Development
You can get fast approval – often in just a couple of weeks – if your planned project meets the rules in the AHSEPP. This is called complying development. Information about building a secondary dwelling as complying development can be found on the NSW Planning Portal.
You can get a complying development approved by an accredited certifying authority. Council is an accredited certifying authority.
Use the button below to apply for a complying development certificate from Council via the NSW Planning Portal.
Development Application
If your secondary dwelling doesn’t fit the complying development rules, you will need to get approval through a Development Application.
Make sure you read the planning rules that apply to your land before you start this process.
Council can also help you by providing development advice.
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