Granny flat rentals to expand housing options

Noosa Plan 2020, Sunshine Coast Planning, Town Planning

In a surprise move, the Queensland State Government are relaxing laws preventing renting a secondary dwelling or granny flat to people other than immediate family.

The Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Steven Miles announced the surprise move yesterday (Thursday, 22 September), allowing Queenslanders to lease their granny flats on the rental market to create thousands of new housing options.

The initiative was suggested by stakeholders at a pre-housing summit roundtable last week to address the housing crisis. 

Given the state’s housing shortfall urgency, the planning change will skip the regular consultation stages. Mr Miles said the government would revisit the policy in three years to assess its suitability properly.

Our take on granny flat rentals

As a Noosa Housing Strategy Stakeholder Reference Group (HSRG) member, I am certainly excited to see the details as they come through. It is great leadership from the state to take on board what local governments have advocated for over the past 12 months to address the current housing crisis.

We are yet to see the fine print, but we expect this initiative to be enacted similarly to the planning instruments used during COVID-19, including an amendment or inclusion within the State Planning Regulations.

Each council will need to review the details as they emerge to determine what may be required to change within their own planning schemes. 

It may be as simple as a) changes within definitions; b) to amendments of Performance and Acceptable outcomes that sit within their particular planning scheme.

Not every property will be a winner in this circumstance but it provides those properties that already have an existing secondary dwelling/granny flat to be able to commence this use shortly.

Existing secondary dwellings will need to comply with existing fire and building provisions.

If you are considering adding a secondary dwelling to your property be aware that the state government has foreshadowed a review of this change in three years. 

RG Strategic will review all documentation and information supplied by the department and local governments so we can provide a clear, simple-to-understand process for existing or new constructions to ensure you are complying as required.