A granny flat — a secondary dwelling — can usually be approved as complying development, determined by a registered private certifier without going to council. Where that pathway is not available, the same building can still be approved, but through a development application assessed by council on merit.
The building does not change. What changes is who assesses it, against what, and how long it takes.
The lot has to be large enough and the right shape, and the secondary dwelling has to sit within the standards that apply to it — setbacks, height, floor area, landscaped area, private open space and parking among them.
Crucially, it is assessed alongside what is already on the lot. The existing house, its setbacks, its open space and its parking all count. A granny flat that would be fine on an empty block can fail on the same block with a house on it.
And the site itself has to be eligible: heritage listing, certain flood or bushfire constraints and some environmentally sensitive land can each exclude the complying development pathway entirely.
The title. A covenant limiting the number of dwellings on the lot, a restriction on the building area, or a drainage easement running through the back yard will each stop a secondary dwelling on a lot that satisfies every planning standard.
This is why we ask for the title search, the section 10.7 certificate and the 88B instrument before the drawings are finished rather than after.
Where stormwater can lawfully be discharged is a site question, and on some lots it is the question that decides the design. Leaving it until the end is the most common way a granny flat project has to be redrawn.
A granny flat is building work like any other. A Principal Certifier has to be appointed before work starts, notice of commencement has to be given, the critical stage inspections run through the build, and an Occupation Certificate is issued at the end before it can be occupied or let.
Send us the property address and whatever plans exist and we will tell you where you stand — the pathway, what is still needed, and what it will cost. Or call (02) 8772 4022 and we will talk it through.
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