Do you need council approval for a granny flat? QLD, NSW, VIC and SA

In most of Australia you do not need a full development application for a granny flat if it meets the standard rules for your state or council, but you always need building approval, and an overlay, a small lot or a large design can push it back into a full planning application. Each state runs a different pathway: in Queensland your council's planning scheme decides, NSW has a fast complying development route, Victoria removed the planning permit for small second dwellings, and South Australia still needs development approval for every granny flat. The rules below are a general guide to where each state sits; the planning scheme for your lot, the council or a building certifier gives the answer for your plans.

Granny flat approval at a glance

State	What the rules call it	Planning approval	Size limit in the planning rules	Building approval
Queensland	Secondary dwelling	Often accepted development (no DA) if it meets the council's code	Set by each council's planning scheme	Always, from a private certifier or council
New South Wales	Secondary dwelling	Complying development certificate if it meets the Housing SEPP standards, else a DA	60 m², or more if the council's LEP allows	Included in the complying development certificate, or a construction certificate after a DA
Victoria	Small second dwelling	No planning permit on most residential lots of 300 m² or more, unless an overlay needs one	80 m² (60 m² before 15 October 2026)	Always, a building permit
South Australia	Ancillary accommodation	Development approval always needed	70 m² in the deemed-to-satisfy criteria; larger can be assessed on merit	Building consent is part of the development approval

Do I need council approval for a granny flat in Queensland?

Queensland's Planning Regulation 2017 defines a secondary dwelling as one used with, and subordinate to, a house on the same lot. It does not set one statewide approval rule. Each council's planning scheme decides the category of assessment, zone by zone, and that is where the answer sits.

In most residential zones, councils list a secondary dwelling as accepted development subject to requirements. That means no development application is needed if the design meets every acceptable outcome in the scheme's code, such as the size limit, the distance from the main house, boundary setbacks and parking. Moreton Bay describes a secondary dwelling as "usually considered accepted development", and Brisbane's fact sheet points to the Dwelling house code and the Dwelling house (small lot) code for the criteria. Miss one requirement and the granny flat becomes code assessable, which means a development application.

Overlays change the answer more often than zones do. A flood, bushfire, heritage, character or landslide overlay can raise the category of assessment from accepted to code or impact assessable, so a granny flat that needs no approval on one lot can need a DA on the lot next door. Check the zone and every overlay on the council's planning scheme map, then read the table of assessment for that zone. Our guides to Brisbane City Plan, Gold Coast City Plan and Moreton Bay's planning scheme map show where the layers are.

Building approval is always needed, from a private building certifier or the council, and plumbing approval usually is too. Since 26 September 2022 the Planning Regulation no longer limits who can live in a secondary dwelling, so it can be rented to anyone, across all Queensland council areas.

Do I need council approval for a granny flat in NSW?

NSW allows secondary dwellings in the R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 residential zones under the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021, and some councils allow them in other zones through their Local Environmental Plan. There are two pathways.

• Complying development. If the granny flat meets every standard in Schedule 1 of the Housing SEPP, a council or a private certifier can issue a complying development certificate, which covers both planning and building approval. The lot must be at least 450 m², unless the secondary dwelling sits entirely inside the existing house. The NSW Government says complying development can be approved in as little as 20 days.
• Development application. If the proposal misses any complying standard, you can still lodge a DA with the council, which assesses it against the LEP and the council's development control plan.

The secondary dwelling can be no larger than 60 m² of floor area, or a larger figure if the council's LEP allows it. The NSW Government notes that, for complying development, the maximum floor area for the site counts the main house, the granny flat and any attached garage, carport, deck, pergola or verandah. Only one principal dwelling and one secondary dwelling are allowed on the site, and a lot with a secondary dwelling cannot be subdivided. No extra parking is required by the Housing SEPP.

Some land is excluded from complying development, such as heritage items and some flood or bushfire affected lots, and those go through a DA. The NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer shows the zone, heritage and flood planning layers, and the section 10.7 planning certificate for the lot says whether complying development can be carried out on it.

Do I need a planning permit for a granny flat in Victoria?

Victoria calls a granny flat a small second dwelling. Since 14 December 2023 (Amendment VC253), building one on a lot of 300 m² or more in most residential zones has not needed a planning permit, provided it meets the conditions in the planning scheme. Amendment VC306 raised the maximum floor area from 60 m² to 80 m² on 15 October 2026. A separate amendment, VC282, brought in the clause 54 standards for small second dwellings on lots under 300 m² from 8 September 2025. A small second dwelling must have its own kitchen, bathroom and toilet and sit on the same lot as an existing house.

A planning permit is still needed in three common cases:

• The lot is under 300 m². In the residential zones a permit is required, and the design is assessed against the clause 54 standards.
• An overlay requires one. A Bushfire Management Overlay requires a permit for a small second dwelling, and flood overlays such as the Land Subject to Inundation Overlay can too. Heritage, Neighbourhood Character and Design and Development overlays have their own exemptions and conditions, so read the overlay schedule for the lot.
• The zone is outside the exemption. Rural and other non-residential zones have their own conditions.

A building permit is always required, from a registered building surveyor. Search the address in VicPlan and download the free Planning Property Report to see the zone and every overlay. If you are still unsure, councils offer written planning advice, usually for a fee.

Do I need council approval for a granny flat in South Australia?

South Australia calls a granny flat ancillary accommodation, and building one needs development approval under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016. Development approval in SA bundles planning consent and building consent, and the application is lodged through the PlanSA portal. There is no exempt category for a granny flat.

Ancillary accommodation sits on the same site as, and ancillary to, a main dwelling. Under the Planning and Design Code amendment approved on 18 November 2024, 70 m² of floor area is the deemed-to-satisfy criterion, not an absolute size limit: a larger granny flat can still be proposed, but it is assessed on its merits (performance assessed) rather than against the standard. It can be self-contained, with its own kitchen, bathroom and laundry, and the occupants share the main dwelling's private open space. Since October 2023 it has not been an offence to rent a granny flat to anyone, and councils can no longer limit who lives in it, even where an older approval restricted it to family.

Where the design meets the Code's deemed-to-satisfy criteria for the zone, the planning assessment is a check against those standards rather than a merit judgement. Overlays still apply, and in SA an overlay policy wins where it disagrees with the zone, so a Hazards (Flooding), Hazards (Bushfire), Historic Area or Character Area overlay can change what is supported. Search the address in SAPPA to see the zone and overlays for the parcel.

Can I build a granny flat on my property?

Start with three checks on the lot itself, in this order:

1. The zone. It decides whether a granny flat is expected on the land at all. See what zone is my property for the free map in each state.
2. The overlays. Flood, bushfire, heritage, character and landslip overlays are the usual reason a simple granny flat ends up needing a full application. A flood overlay can also set a minimum floor level, which changes the design and the cost.
3. The lot and the title. Lot size and width decide the NSW complying route and the Victorian 300 m² threshold. A sewer or stormwater easement can sit right where the granny flat would go, and building over one needs the utility's consent. See sewer easements on a property.

Then the building side. The certifier or building surveyor will ask for a soil test so the slab or footings can be designed for the site classification under AS 2870, and on reactive clay that changes the footing. Our article on site classification myths explains what the classes mean. If you are buying a property with an existing granny flat, check that it was approved: an unapproved structure becomes the new owner's problem, and the development approval check shows how to look up past approvals.

Common questions

Do I need council approval for a granny flat? You always need building approval, but a separate planning approval depends on the state. In Queensland it is often not needed if the design meets the council's code, in NSW a complying development certificate can replace a DA, in Victoria most lots of 300 m² or more need no planning permit, and in South Australia development approval is always needed.

Can you build a granny flat without council approval? Not without any approval. Even where no planning application is needed, a granny flat needs building approval from a certifier, building surveyor or the council. In NSW and Queensland a private certifier can issue the approval instead of the council when the design meets the standard rules.

How big can a granny flat be? It depends on the state: 60 m² in NSW unless the council's LEP allows more, 80 m² in Victoria for a small second dwelling with no planning permit, and 70 m² in South Australia as the deemed-to-satisfy criterion, with larger designs assessed on merit. In Queensland each council's planning scheme sets the limit.

Can I rent out my granny flat? Yes, in Queensland, Victoria, NSW and South Australia a granny flat can be rented to someone outside the family. Queensland removed its restriction on 26 September 2022 and South Australia in October 2023.

Do I need a building permit for a granny flat? Yes. Every state requires building approval for a granny flat, whether or not it needs planning approval. In Victoria it is a building permit from a registered building surveyor, in NSW it is part of the complying development certificate or a construction certificate, in Queensland it comes from a private certifier or the council, and in South Australia building consent is part of the development approval.

Want to see the zone, flood, bushfire and heritage overlays and easements on a lot before you plan a granny flat? Pop in your address for a free preview, or check out a sample report. For NSW lots the report also lists what the council's LEP land use table permits in the zone.

LayeredGeo's Property Report pulls together public planning and site data for property due diligence across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, the ACT and Tasmania, so you can understand a place before you commit.

About this article. Published by LayeredGeo and written from the published research cited in the Sources section above. It is general information about how property and ground conditions are assessed in Australia, not engineering, planning, legal or financial advice, and it is not specific to any property. Check anything that matters against the source dataset or a suitably qualified professional before you rely on it. If you spot something wrong, tell us at hello@layeredgeo.com.au and we will fix it.

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