Insights from RG Strategic
Granny flat rentals to expand housing options
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Posted September 23, 2022
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.
The team at RG Strategic were fantastic to deal with, providing prompt & professional service. They demonstrated detailed knowledge of our situation and communicated clearly on what we needed to do. Using their local knowledge they formulated an approach that culminated in us gaining the approvals council initially indicated they would not support. We would highly recommend them to others.
Darren
Can't thank Russell and the team enough for their help navigating the changes to the Noosa Plan and how they might impact our property. The service was always really prompt and a much better approach compared to trying to navigate the application process on our own. Thanks!
Steven Myrteza
Russell and the team at RG Strategic were amazing throughout our whole Development Application with council. To be honest, I don't think we would have even made the move to our new premises with how daunting a Material Change of Use Application is. We are experts in human movement, not this stuff, so we are super grateful these guys made the process seamless and also speedy! Council told us a 3-5 month application process and these guys got it in right on the 3 month mark for us! Thanks for your patience and professionalism guys! We appreciate it more than words can say.
Fiona Keable
Real Body Movement - Gympie
Extremely helpful - prompt and explanatory. All that I could have asked for and more! Thank you Russell and Team.
Bruce Black
Town Planning Advice - Moreton Bay