Scenario
Grant is creating a granny flat on his property for his mother, Ann, to live closer. First, he considered whether the extra residence could be eligible as a dual occupancy. When Grant saw this isn't permitted, he developed a secondary residence instead.
Proposal: Secondary residence (granny flat)
Address: 2 Sample Court, Amaroo
Land Use Zone: RZ1 Suburban
Block Area: 700m2
Grant's journey
Step 1: Understand the legislation
Grant would like to learn to navigate the new planning system for his proposed development. He went to the Planning website to find information about the planning system.
Step 2: What land use is my proposal?
At first, Grant was interested in having two separate dwellings with separate titles. This would allow them to sell the dwellings separately in the future.
Grant read the dual occupancy FAQs and fact sheets and followed the step-by-step process. This helped Grant check their proposed dual occupancy process was permissible. Grant discovered dual occupancy is not permissible on their land because it is less than 800m2.
Grant still wanted Ann to live on the same block, so he altered the proposal to a granny flat. This meant it could not be separately titled and/or sold in the future.
Step 3: What's in the Territory Plan?
Grant found the definition for secondary residence in the Territory Plan Dictionary. Grant agreed that it was suitable for his needs.
Step 4: What land use zone is my home in?
Grant confirmed that his land use zone is 'residential zone' (RZ1 Suburban). He confirms that his Amaroo home is in the Gungahlin District.
Find the land use zone that applies to the block of land. Use the Territory Plan layer on ACTMapi.
Step 5: Is what I want to do permitted?
Grant verifies that his secondary residence proposal is permissible in the Land Use Table of the Residential Zone Policy. There are no additional requirements for Grant's Amaroo block outlined in the Gungahlin District Policy.
Step 6: What does my Crown lease say?
Grant the checks his Crown lease and finds that it is limited to only one dwelling. He identifies that a Lease Variation will be required.
A copy of your Crown Lease can be purchased online using the ACT Land Information System Title Search. After searching for your address using the search function, click your block, then 'order title details'.
Step 7: Prepare plans
Grant identified his proposal for a secondary residence is permissible. He contacts an industry professional to prepare the plans and submit a Development Assessment (DA) for the design. They also prepare siting works and vary the lease.
The Residential Zones Policy outlines a number of mandatory requirements relating to secondary residences, including that the size is limited to 90m2. Grant also notes the other mandatory requirements. This includes that it is single level, the only secondary residence on the block and the block is more than 500m2.
Step 8: Development assessment (DA) submission
The industry professional prepares the DA for submission. They complete the Development Outcomes Report [628.7 KB] with the Gungahlin District Policy, Residential Zones Policy and Lease Variation Policy attachments. The industry professional identifies that as there is no Design Guide applied, a Design Response is not required. Despite this, they include responses and references to the guidance from the Housing Design Guide. This was also used in their Development Outcomes Report.
Grant and Ann are looking forward to completing their granny flat.
The development assessment submission is completed through eDevelopment.
