Hi Will,

Brisbane City Plan 2000 does not mention leases at all, but it does restrict the number of unrelated occupants of a house to five (5). If the property you mention has been approved as a house with a secondary dwelling then you’d need to ensure the occupancy is restricted to 5 or less unrelated people, which could be problematic when it…[Read more]

Hi Daniel,
Definitely make sure the granny flat has council approval. This should be a no-brainer for any property purchase.
For an existing property under built under the Brisbane City Plan 2000, you can rent a granny flat so long as there’s no more than 5 people in both dwellings.
Historically any house with a granny flat is classified under…[Read more]

Just another money grab. Councils justify it by saying that non-owner occupiers can claim it on tax and therefore should pay more than an owner occupier. This is a very bad argument.
If you work in a job that allows you to claim sunscreen, does a shop charge you more to purchase that sunscreen?
The service provided by councils is the same…[Read more]

Just an update on the QUU charges. The fees can be found on the QUU website under business rates & charges.

Basically you get charged a minimum of $110.22 per toilet per quarter, but they are nice enough to give you one for free. So if you are on Brisbane’s “Category 4 – Multi Residential” rates and have 3 toilets, your charged an extra $881.76…[Read more]

Hi John,

I had this issue with the last property we settled on in Brisbane. My legal advice was that anything left at the property at time of settlement is classed as abandoned goods and are yours to keep.

Always good to do a pre settlement inspection to ensure any rubbish has been removed and if you’re not happy, delay settlement until such…[Read more]

Hi Dragun,

I have been following the Mackay Investor case in the news and it looks imminent that councils across Qld will be forced to refund as much as $300M to investors due to illegally charging investors higher rates.

A property I own in Brisbane is rated as “Category 4 – Multi Residential” that is currently tenanted. If was to…[Read more]

Hi Daniel,

BCC has allowed granny flats for decades. The question is, can you rent one out? The answer to this depends on whether it’s a new house or an existing one.

If it’s an existing house with secondary dwelling that falls under the City Plan 2000, then you can rent how you like so long as there are no more than 5 individuals in entire…[Read more]

So a quick summary of this issue is:-

BCC has had 2 barristers working for over 6 months or more to amass half a room full of documents, in an attempt to enforce an 'opinion' regarding a City Plan that is about to be superseded. That 'opinion' contradicts that of the principle author if the City Plan (as well as their own rates department), and…[Read more]

Hi Darryl,

Any more word on this so called "Originating Application" that Brisbane City Council is supposedly doing?

I heard that it was to be completed last August/September 2013, but there's been nothing.  I get the impression that this was just further rubbish that BCC was feeding people in order to cast doubt over the granny flat…[Read more]

You might want to check out the new Queensland State Planning Provisions that came into effect late last year.

They define "Household" as:-
"An individual or a group of two or more related or unrelated people who reside in the dwelling, with the common intention to live together on a longterm basis and who make common provision for food or other…[Read more]

Hi Xeryus,

You might want to check with Ipswich CC now that new QPP definitions have been introduced for Household, Dwelling House and Dual Occupancy.  It may have just become unlawful.

Just an update on things here……BCC are currently in the process of withdrawing these enforcement notices.  Hooray for common sense!

I'm the owner of a primary/secondary dwelling in Brisbane and was issued with one of these council enforcement notices at the beginning of this year.  Both dwellings are leased on their own lease agreement.

I…[Read more]