Granny flats · NSW, Victoria and Queensland
Granny flats: what the rules say
A second home on the block
A granny flat is a small, self-contained home on the same lot as a main house: inside it, attached to it, or standing apart in the backyard. Each state has its own name for it and its own rules, and Centrelink and the tax office use the words for something else again: a right to live somewhere for life.
This guide, published by Dotto, reads the official planning, tenancy, Services Australia and ATO pages and sets out what they say, sheet by sheet. It covers New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. It names no builder or kit supplier and quotes no prices.
- 1Main house
- 2Granny flat (secondary dwelling)
- 3Front setback
- 4Side setbacks
- 5Rear setback
- 6Space between the two dwellings
- 7Lawn and open space
- 8Driveway
- 9Street
Three states, side by side
The same backyard building goes by different names and through different approvals in each state. Each cell below is read from that state’s own planning pages; the guides go further.
| State | What the state calls it | Size | Planning approval | Building approval | Selling it off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | A secondary dwelling, or granny flat | A maximum floor area applies to complying development, counting the main house, the granny flat and attached structures such as garages, decks and verandahs | Development consent, or complying development if every standard in the Housing SEPP is met | Complying development is a combined planning and construction approval, from a council or an accredited certifier | The lot cannot be subdivided |
| Victoria | A small second home, also called a granny flat, secondary dwelling or accessory dwelling unit | 60 square metres or less | No planning permit in most cases, unless the land is under flooding, environmental or other special planning controls | A building permit is still required | Cannot be subdivided or separately sold off from the main home |
| Queensland | A secondary dwelling, commonly known as a granny flat | No figure on the department’s page; generally smaller in size and scale than the main dwelling | Ask your council whether development approval is needed | Required for any new secondary dwelling | It cannot be developed by itself; it always accompanies a main dwelling |
Other states and territories have their own rules, which this guide does not cover.
Two meanings of “granny flat”
In planning law, a granny flat is a building. For Services Australia and the ATO, the words describe a right instead, and the right can sit in any kind of home.
A building on the lot
The planning sense: a self-contained dwelling within, attached to, or separate from another dwelling on the same site. The state guides on this site use this meaning.
A right to live there for life
Services Australia: a granny flat interest is a lifelong right to live in one particular home, paid for by the person who holds it, in a property that belongs to someone else. “It’s not a description of the type of property.” The ATO says such an interest “isn’t restricted to what is commonly referred to as a ‘granny flat’.”
The two meanings meet when a parent pays to build a granny flat on a son’s or daughter’s land in return for a home for life. One of Services Australia’s own examples is a couple of pension age who sell their home and pay to build a granny flat on their son’s property, in return for a right to accommodation for life. The pension sheet and the tax sheet take that meaning; the others take the building.
The sheets in this set
- Sheet 2
Secondary dwellings in NSW
How a granny flat is approved in NSW, where it may go, and why the lot size decides the route.
- Sheet 3
Small second dwellings in Victoria
What Victoria counts as a small second dwelling, and when a planning permit is still needed.
- Sheet 4
Secondary dwellings in Queensland
Who may live in a Queensland granny flat since 2022, and what renting one can trigger.
- Sheet 5
Granny flat interests and the pension
What Services Australia means by a granny flat interest, and how it can be assessed.
- Sheet 6
Granny flat arrangements and CGT
When the ATO’s capital gains tax exemption for granny flat arrangements applies.
- Sheet 7
Renting out a granny flat
Tenancy agreements, bonds and rental income, with Queensland as the worked case.