Interesting Info 5 – No minimum site area required for attached granny flats

There is now no minimum site area required to attach granny flats to an existing house. Prior to February 2014, a minimum 450m² block was required for attached or detached granny flats to be built.

Backyard Grannys

02 Oct 2014 · General tips

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There is now no minimum site area required to attach granny flats to an existing house. Prior to February 2014, a minimum 450m² block was required for attached or detached granny flats to be built.

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The only option previously available to property owners with small blocks was to convert a section of their existing house into a granny flat.

While you are still required to have a minimum 450m² block to build a detached granny flat, this new rule provides more options and greater flexibility to property owners with small blocks.

Attached granny flats can be built in several forms including:

a new wing to the house
new floor added to the house
new floor on top of the garage

Attaching a granny flat extension to your existing house can also be simple. The existing house does not need to meet complying development standards. Only the new attached granny flat must meet the requirements of the SEPP policy, such as maximum floor area of 60m², building setbacks, heights and maximum site coverage. The major difference between an attached and detached granny flat is the requirement for fire separation between the existing house and granny flat.

So if you have a small block in Newcastle or on the Central Coast and are interested in finding out more about granny flats and if one could be built on your block, get in touch with us.