WARNING: Dual Living/ Granny Flat unapproved Duplexes- Brisbane City Council Enforcement Notices

RE  "Previously we could pick up a pattern, the suburbs where in the same area or houses built by the same builder or sold by the same marketing company,  I can't find anything with these. "

Would be determined by RTA bond lodgements

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 property (house + secondary dwelling).

However, BCC are set to bring in the new City Plan 2014 prior to 1 July this year. They have made a real balls-up of things in it such that you cannot have independent occupation of a secondary dwelling (granny flat) ; even granny is unlawful if she wants to retain her independence. For independent occupation of a secondary dwelling (rented or not), BCC are requiring a Dual Occupancy approval, and to get a Dual Occupancy approval you’ll need 3000m2 in normal residential zoning. So it seems like they are wanting to kill off the granny flat as an affordable housing option under the new City Plan.

A twist here is that the new plan has a Rooming Accommodation Code (which by the way, the public have had no consultation on) and this allows rent-by-the-room. If there are 5 or less people, then rent-by-the-room falls under the dwelling house code which I understand is self assessable (no approvals needed). Therefore, the City Plan 2014 does allow a house with a secondary dwelling to be rented by the room, so long as a single person (eg granny) does not occupy the secondary dwelling on their own.

There has been an attempt by BCC to retrospectively apply the changes in the new City Plan to existing properties, however many owners have taken BCC to court on the matter….and won.

Previous posts on this thread have indicated that BCC will be attempting further legal action to retrospectively apply these changes. To date, no further legal action has been taken and I personally believe it is just further bullying tactics by BCC in an attempt to discourage the practise.

btw…I know of a BCC Councillor that rents their granny flat out, so I would expect some serious apple carts to be upset if BCC push it further.

So, if you’re wanting to rent out a granny flat, make sure you get in before the new City Plan is adopted.

Hope this helps.

Simon.

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 Category 4 – Multi Residential Rates. I have written confirmation from the rates department that this is because there are 2 separate self contained dwellings and that they can be rented separately. They also stated that they did not agree with the Compliance Team’s interpretation of the City Plan which lead to the Enforcement Notices (that were mentioned in this thread). Even if, the property is owner occupied, it’s still classed as Multi Residential but you will get the owner occupier exemption which reduces the rates.
If you’re planning on building new under the City Plan 2014, forget the granny flat. Unfortunately the changes in the new plan won’t even let granny live independently in a granny flat, as that would be classed as dual occupancy. Instead, take a look at new Rooming Accommodation Code. It allows 5 households (5 people living independently) in normal residential zoning. Alternatively you could build a granny flat and rent it as Rooming Accommodation.
Simon

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 has 7 bedrooms.

I think the issue is pretty much dead and buried (and it’s a moot point anyway) as the new City Plan 2014 allows 5 leases on a house in low density residential zoning under Rooming Accommodation and is self assessable for 5 or less people.

Hope this helps.

Hi,

So the most common situation is that people want to build a granny flat and have a seperate lease on either it or the house. From what I can gather from this thread, the cityplan 2014 and the QDC, the only legit way to do this is under the self assessable Rooming Accommodation, which refers to the QDC budget accomodation code. For most people the house is less than 300sq.m GFA and would therefore only require smoke detectors and a non combustible stair. Problem solved, yes? But are there any other associated registrations required?

Ive heard recently of a neighbour getting in trouble by council for leasing out their granny flat due to a complaint from a neighbour, and I assume they will have to fall into line with the Rooming Accommodation code.

Has anyone followed through with this process?

Kind Regards,

Dan Burnett

Alina wrote:

Hi,

I am looking at buying two residential properties next to each other. Both houses are double storey in a residential area with the possibility to rent upstairs and downstairs separately as ground floor and level 1 have kitchen and bathroom. Both houses have a shed each at the back and we have a business interested to rent both houses with the sheds at the back and have offices on the ground floor of each house but sublease level 1 to a family or professional couple. Is that an option? Both houses are on the main road and home operated businesses are allowed by the council. Your advice would be much appreciated. Thank you

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If you already owned them i’d say go for it. But when you are looking to invest based on the rental revenue you could get caught if it’s too many people/households under the city plan and they make you drop some of the leases! From the bit i’d know i’d say each house would be fine to rent to up to 5 people but not sure how using it for commercial purposes comes into it. As if it is zoned for residential you probably can’t use it for commercial use. Perhaps someone else on the forum can help out re the commercial/residential question?

Might be worth speaking to an a town planner or a real estate agency with experience in multiple leases such as The Pad or Hive Student Accommodation.

Regards
Sarah