Granny flat rules by state, side by side

New South Wales

• No parking is required by the SEPP. Complying development is not available in rural zones, on lots under 450 m² (unless the second home is inside the house) or on ember or flame bushfire land.
• Rural zones only where the LEP lists secondary dwellings under the Standard Instrument's optional clause 5.5, with its own cap and distance rule.
• The 60 m² figure is unchanged in every 2025 and 2026 source read. The draft amendment for second dwellings in rural zones went to a Legislative Council committee; no evidence it has been made.
• Could not be read directly: the consolidated SEPP text refuses automated reads, so section numbers rest on the department's page and council citations.

Sources, read 15 Oct 2026:

1. Department of Planning, Housing SEPP secondary dwellings page
2. Guide to complying development

Victoria

• Conditions for no permit: one existing dwelling on the lot, only one small second dwelling, no reticulated natural gas to the building.
• No car parking required; exempt from development and community infrastructure levies.
• Heritage, Design and Development and Neighbourhood Character overlays exempt a small second dwelling under 5 m high in muted tones; the bushfire and flood overlays do not, so a permit is needed there.
• The Building Regulations 2018 still say 60 m² pending a follow-up amendment.

Sources, read 15 Oct 2026:

1. VPP clause 73.03, small second dwelling
2. Amendment VC306
3. DTP, small second dwellings

Queensland

• Of the 77 schemes, 35 set a numeric cap, one a percentage of the house, and 42 none at all. Every council's cap is on the Queensland caps page.
• The Housing Code's deemed-to-satisfy standard A4.2 is 50 m² internal floor area under 1,000 m² and 60 m² at 1,000 m² or more; an adopting council may raise it by alternative provision. No council had adopted it by 16 October 2026.
• The 2024 draft state code for a secondary dwelling (80 m² under 1,000 m², 100 m² above) was never adopted.
• A tiny home on wheels is a caravan, not a dwelling; a fixed one can be a secondary dwelling.

Sources, read 15 and 16 Oct 2026:

1. Planning Regulation 2017, consolidated
2. Queensland Housing Code, 1 September 2026
3. Planning (Secondary Dwellings) Amendment Regulation 2022
4. Queensland Government, secondary dwellings

South Australia

• No more than two bedrooms; shared private open space; no separate utility connection on the deemed-to-satisfy path.
• A deemed-to-satisfy path exists in all neighbourhood, township, city living, master planned, rural living, rural and remote zones.
• PlanSA and the state legislation site refuse automated reads; the sources were read in a browser.

Sources, read 15 Oct 2026:

1. Approved code amendment, ancillary accommodation
2. DHUD, bigger more accessible granny flats
3. PlanSA, granny flats for rental

Western Australia

• Allowed at every density code and on grouped dwelling and strata lots; behind the street setback line; one per site.
• Parking: none near high frequency transit, otherwise one bay.
• Of ten councils read, three vary the rule only outside the Residential zone or above 70 m²: Busselton (80 m², rural zones, DA always), Swan (rural zones), Wanneroo (100 m² on lots over 4,000 m² by DA).

Sources, read 15 Oct 2026:

1. R-Codes Volume 1, 10 April 2026 edition
2. WA Government, granny flat info sheet
3. Media statement, exemptions commence, 9 April 2024

Tasmania

• The second home shares the house's access, parking and service connections and meters.
• The draft amendment would also add secondary residences to the No Permit Required rows and allow them in Rural and Agriculture zones with an existing dwelling.
• Practice varies where the rule does not: one council says planning approval is required in all instances, another issues paid No Permit Required certificates.

Sources, read 15 Oct 2026:

1. State Planning Provisions viewer
2. Draft SPP Amendment 01/2026, secondary residences
3. Ancillary dwellings brochure

Northern Territory

• Zones confirmed: LR, LMR, RR, RL, R, CV, CL, T, H and A.
• All 18 NT councils were read: none has a planning instrument; the DCA decides and councils comment as service authorities.
• Could not be read directly: the scheme text refuses automated reads, so the clause is quoted from DCA agendas. Confirm in a browser before quoting the numbers.

Sources, read 15 Oct 2026:

1. NT Government, building an independent unit
2. DCA Litchfield agenda quoting clause 5.4.13, 15 July 2026
3. Have your say, independent dwellings

Australian Capital Territory

• Zones RZ1 to RZ5.
• Could not be read directly: the Residential Zones Policy PDF was not available, so the figures rest on Planning ACT and a ministerial answer.

Sources, read 15 Oct 2026:

1. Territory Plan 2023 register
2. Planning ACT case study, a granny flat
3. Legislative Assembly question on the 90 m² limit

Method

Primary sources only: legislation registers, state planning portals, the state code or policy text, and council pages, read on 15 and 16 October 2026. Where a state legislation site refused automated reads (New South Wales, the Northern Territory, the ACT and South Australia), the figure rests on the department's own explainer, a council citation or a browser read, and the jurisdiction's notes say so. Three external territories are not shown: Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands apply WA law, Jervis Bay applies ACT law, and Norfolk Island's plan could not be read. Corrections go live within one working day of an email to howdy@bigsmallhaus.au.

Published by Big Small Haus Research, part of Big Small Haus Pty Ltd, a licensed Queensland builder (QBCC 15506005). The site reads rules; it does not advise on an application. Check the instrument, and the council, before relying on any figure.