Granny Flat Approval Guide – Sydney NSW

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Granny Flat NSW SEPP Approval Guide – Sydney & Greater NSW

TEN STEPS to FAST (THREE WEEK) GRANNY FLAT APPROVAL:

Step 1. Property Size

Is your property a minimum size of 450 sq m?
YES: Go to Step 2
NO: You cannot get 10-Day approval for a detached granny flat, but may get approval for an attached granny flat.

Step 2. Property Width

Is your property 12 metres wide (measured at the location of the new granny flat)?

YES: Go to Step 3
NO: You cannot get 10-Day approval for a detached granny flat, but may get approval for an attached granny flat.

Step 3. Maximum Floor Space (incl upstairs and garages, carports, awnings, patios and granny flat)

Will your property have NO MORE THAN the following floor space?

330 square metres, if the block is 450 square metres to 600 square metres
380 square metres, if the block is 600 square metres to 900 square metres
430 square metres, if the block size is 900 square metres or more

YES: Go to Step 4
NO: You cannot get 10-Day approval for a detached or attached granny flat, but may get approval for smaller than 60 sq m.

Step 4. Setbacks (distance to boundaries)

Do you agree to building a granny flat with the following distances to boundaries?

Rear Setback: Minimum 3m from rear boundary if lot is <900 sq m; otherwise 5m
Side Setback: Minimum 0.9m from the side boundaries if lot is <900 sq m; otherwise 1.5m
Front setback: The average distance of the setbacks of the nearest 2 dwelling houses
Granny Flat-to-House: Minimum 1.80m; otherwise a Fire-Rated Wall is needed (masonry, fire-rated cladding or similar).

YES: Go to Step 5
NO: You cannot get 10-Day approval for a detached granny flat, but may get approval for an attached granny flat.

Note: You can have a Zero setback to rear if the rear boundary adjoins a Laneway. See HERE for further details

Step 5. Maximum Height

Do you agree to a maximum Height of 3.8m (measured from the lowest natural ground level to the top of the roof)?

YES: Go to Step 6
NO: You cannot get 10-Day approval for a detached granny flat, but may get approval for an attached granny flat.

Note 1: Any height above 3.8m must be TRIPLED (x3) and added to the 3m Rear Setback. e.g. A Height of 4.8m means a Rear Setback of 6 metres

Note 2: Any height above 3.8m must be a DIVIDED BY FOUR (1/4) and added to the 0.9m Side Setback. e.g. A Height of 4.8m means a Side Setback of 1.15 metres

Step 6. Landscaping

Will your property retain the following landscaped area (turf, soil and gardens) after the granny flat is built?

25% minimum landscaping (turf & gardens), varies slightly depending on property size.
Note: 50% of the above must be behind the main dwelling (house)

YES: Go to Step 7
NO: You cannot get 10-Day approval for a detached granny flat, but may get approval for an attached granny flat.

Step 7. Principle Private Open Space (P.P.O.S.)

The Granny Flat must have an outside entertainments area that is at least 24 sq m that’s directly accessible from a Living Room.

Do you agree to have us design to this requirement?

YES: Go to Step 8
NO: You cannot get 10-Day approval for a detached granny flat, but may get approval for an attached granny flat.

Step 8. Maximum Excavation

Can the granny flat be built without exceeding the following excavation (cut & fill) requirements?

(a) if located within 1 metre from a boundary—1 metre, or

(b) if located more than 1 metre but not more than 1.5 metres from a boundary—2 metres, or

(c) if located more than 1.5 metres from a boundary—3 metres.

Note: We can build on piers if needed

YES: Go to Step 9
NO: You cannot get 10-Day approval for a detached granny flat, but may get approval for an attached granny flat

Step 9. Stormwater Drainage Requirement

Do you agree to connecting the downpipes to either ONE of the following?

The existing drainage system (the existing gravity-fed system to the street kerb), or
an inter-allotment drainage easement (a Registered Drainage Easement), or
an on-site disposal system (we must construct a ‘Rubble Pit’ in the rear yard). See Drainage Guide HERE

YES: Go to Step 10
NO: You cannot get approval for an attached or detached granny flat.

Step 10. Distance to Tree-Trunks

Can your granny flat be built Minimum 3 metres from a Significant Tree Trunk? A significant tree means a native >5m tall

YES: CONGRATULATIONS! Your Granny Flat can be Approved as Fast, 10-Day Approval
NO: We must apply to your Local Council for Tree-Removal. Call us and we’ll check your Council’s rulings for trees

Calculate your Approval Price HERE

You can also Contact us on 1300 205 007 to begin your Approval Process

4x Tips for Investors when looking for a ‘Granny Flat Friendly Property’

1. Check the Contract

(A) Read through the Section 10.7 Certificate, which lists whether or not the property qualifies under the New SEPP for Complying Development.

If the property is in the following areas, a DA will need to be submitted to Council:

Flood Zone
Bush-Fire Zone (Flame-Zone or BAL-40)
Heritage/Conservation Area

(B) The Sydney Water Board’s Sewer Location Print. This is the black and white sketch which shows approximately where the ‘Board’s Sewer’ is located. If it’s in close proximity to the rear boundary, that’s usually ok, since the Rear Setback requirement for granny flats is 3m anyway. If the Sewer is in the middle of the rear yard, this may be a problem and should be investigated. Feel free to give us a call and we’ll check it for you.

(C) Look at the ‘Deposited Plan’. This is a sketch which shows the property, usually in relation to other properties around it, the boundary dimensions, the block’s size plus drainage easements (if any).

2. Check Slope (fall) of Land

If the property slopes (or falls) to the rear, this can be a potential problem. Drainage can be difficult unless an existing Drainage Easement exists on the property. Check the DP (refer note ‘C’ above) for a dotted line, usually near the rear boundary. If a drainage easement exists, we can connect to this; otherwise we will design an on-site disposal system. Again, feel free to give us a call and we will check it for you.

3. Look for Significant Trees

The granny flat must be at least 3m from the tree trunk of a significant tree (higher than 4m). This includes trees in neighbouring properties.

If tree-removal is needed, we will need to seek separate approval from the Local Council and get quotes for tree removal.

4. Parking and Access

The ‘Affordable Rental Housing SEPP’ doesn’t require any additional parking for new granny flats but it may be helpful to consider your tenant’s needs for parking. Corner blocks usually provide excellent access to two separate dwellings. Other properties usually have adequate parking at the front setback area or we can design internal fencing to emulate a battle-axe block for you.

There are other requirements for granny flats which relate to design, aspect, energy efficiency and access. We will work with you to achieve these requisites for your specific property with minimal expense and minimal fuss.

APPROVAL LOGIC TREE:

Please Click HERE to See our ASSESSMENT-LOGIC MAP

Approval Pricing

The Professional Choice.

Granny Flat Approvals have been designing and managing the construction of their award winning granny flats for over 15 years throughout Sydney.

Serge and his team offer an unparallelled solution for helping you create your new granny flat. Whether it is for investment purposes or the family is extending, Granny Flat Approvals is here to help you from start to finish.
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4.8

Granny Flat Approvals Sydney

4.8

Mudassar Hafeez
03:01 03 Feb 24

Granny Flat Approvals provided excellent services and got the plans approved in timely fashion and no issues. Serge has been a great help and resolved all issues. My project was successfully completed. Happy with the outcome. Thank you

Milton O'Dell
05:06 30 Aug 23

We are most pleased with our granny flat built to CDC requirements. We did not know what to expect. We were so impressed with the team, the professionalism, skill and pride in craftmanship demonstrated by the tradespeople, site and project management whom 'built it like it was their own'. They saw and tweeked things we wanted but literally did not at first visualize.

Denise Langtip
23:58 20 Aug 23

This is my second time using this company. The first time was excellent, this time due to trade shortages it took a lot longer than hoped but in the end a fantastic result. Eric was very professional & helpful with choosing the colour scheme with me. The main contact for me was Mark who totally excelled at his job! I can't thank Mark enough for his constant updates and passion for the job! Highly recommended.

Syd 160
04:04 03 Jul 23

We building with granny flat approvals for the first time and they made the entire process really easy for us, Staff are very experienced and cooperative, Friendly and helpful. Excellent communication. They are the best. Building with granny flat approvals was genuinely excellent experience for us .The building team worked extremely hard to get us in on time, Thank you for all your hard work guys. Much appreciated

abhishek gupta
00:42 08 Oct 21

We have had an excellent experience with Faraj. He is very responsive, extremely patient, and very easy to talk to. One of the most professional yet friendly people in the construction industry that that I have ever spoken to. We ended up not building the granny flat on our property, but did go through the approvals process, which due to the flooding issues at our property was cumbersome. Yet, Faraj was always there to answer any questions and patiently advise the best solution. I highly recommend him and this company, and will definitely return for any future projects.

A k
09:40 28 Jul 21

I wanted to give Faraj more than 5 stars if possible He is very helpful ,knowledgeable and helped me in every aspect to get my granny flat approved , guided me through the process. Very responsive to all of my queries ,explained the whole process and answered my questions always .Thanks Faraj I will strongly recommend his services. Do not waste your time in other companies I have tried they don’t even bother to call you back . Faraj and his company is number one thanks again !

Ben James
02:59 10 Apr 21

Faraj could not have been anymore helpful! Extremely quick responses and helps understand the process all the way through.. I would not recommend anyone else!

bui Leo
20:45 12 Mar 21

Highly recommend. I received very professional advise from Faraj and I can tell he is very enthusiastic and will take care of the project carefully.

Geoff Whitfield
09:25 09 Jan 21

Very happy with the design and approval process. The completed project was great. Being in Canberra, we had to arrange a builder.

Manoj Mali
02:27 17 Dec 20

Faraj helped me to get my granny flat approved , guided me through the process. He also patiently explain the whole process & answered our queries timely manner. Thanks Faraj . will recommend his services.

Travis C
09:49 17 Nov 20

I highly recommend Granny Flat Approvals. We are currently looking to purchase a house and install a granny flat. Faraj has been an invaluable resource when review contracts, providing very beneficial advise around the feasibility of construction on complicated parcels of land.

Liv S
10:23 18 Mar 20

Friendly and helpful staff. Located in a convenient area with lots of street parking.

Pablo Figueroa
02:33 05 Feb 20

I highly recommend Granny Flat Approvals for their professionalism, creative thinking and people’s focus approach. I came to Faraj with a difficult lot of land, and multiple challenges to build a granny flat (odd shape and highly sloped terrain). He could have disregarded the project and stay busy with so many others easier projects, but instead he saw the potential and made me feel he really cared as it was his own. Going through a DA and requiring a number of exemptions from the council we knew it would not be as straightforward as your regular granny flat, but Faraj had the right strategy for me (including Pre-DA meetings), with his experience in knowing what we needed to do to get things over the line. This is when you realise you need to have someone with the right experience on your side to ensure you have the highest probability of council approval. The wrong approach gets your DA in the ‘drawer’ – I must admit I have learnt the complexities of the task as Faraj would patiently guide me through the process and iterate as many times as I needed till we got the right balance between having what I want and what would have the right likelihood of success. It felt a very collaborative approach where he would explain his line of thinking and was always clear about the risks (never over-promising). To make it more challenging, right in the middle of the DA submission I had to travel for family issues. Faraj did not hesitate to liaise with the council directly and handle objections that would have otherwise crippled the project. We got council approval in record time and we are about to commence build now. Thanks to Faraj, Zoe and the team once again.

F Khan
05:27 23 Jan 20

Faraj is a gem of a person, very helpful and prompt response. I would highly recommend them should you want information about grant flat feasibility or building one.

Marie J Kang
12:28 01 Dec 19

We're in the process of buying a new home that requires a granny flat to be built in the backyard and Faraj has been so helpful, going above and beyond in checking contracts and giving us the information we need to make an informed decision. Once again thank you for being so helpful from the beginning and making an effort to make sure we are educated and know what we're getting ourselves into. Saving us much time and money! Looking forward to working with them further.

Jeffrey and Siew Boon
01:22 28 Oct 19

Granny Flat Approvals (GFA) has helped us obtain our approval for our garage to granny flat conversion with ease. From our first call to Zoe & later site inspection & design by Nick, this efficient team has made the whole process very clear & transparent. As our garage setback distance was less than the council requirement, most builders that we have spoken to have encouraged us to knock down our brick garage & rebuild the granny flat rather than converting. As GFA is very familiar with council requirements they were able to suggest ways how we could still do the conversion. Faraj is very informative and helpful in answering questions. He also laid out all options if we decide to knock down our garage & rebuild. Due to that, we were able to make an informed decision based on our budget & circumstances. The whole team at GFA are very efficient & swift in getting things done. They are also very helpful & always trying to work in the best interest of their clients. We highly recommend them if you are planning to have a granny flat on your property.

Satya S Giri Chodisetti
01:23 24 Oct 19

Faraj is really a great guy to help. He is really approachable, have so much patience in clarifying all questions. I really recommend him to any of my friends and family

George Vakis
05:47 27 Sep 19

This whole building experience went so seamlessly and transparent it was a pleasure working with them. We knew all the requirements during the planning and design processes with no hidden unexpected costs. Being in the flight path did require additional funding , but that was our call. In the end the final product was something we were all proud of. Highly recommend the team from Granny Flat Approvals for any Granny Flat to be built anywhere in Australia. They are there to get you a result.

Steph vee
05:35 02 May 19

I was looking for a trustworthy company that would help us get our granny flat approval and this company well exceeded our expectations! I mainly dearth with Faraj who was always available to speak to anytime I needed him and the whole team including serge , nick and the receptionist (sorry lovely I forgot your name ) where fantastic and I couldn’t imagine a better experience anywhere else ... I will most definitely be recommending your company to family and friends who need anything related and I will always remember the great experiences I’ve had with you as it has bought a happiness in completing the rest of our journey . Appreciate it from all of my family thank you granny flat approvals xxx

Van Trinh
01:41 04 Feb 19

My experience with granny flat approvals was wonderful due to Zoe. She was quick, professional and has the background experience to cater to my needs. Looking forward to working with you again. Thank you!

Kaos Elias
03:17 16 Jan 19

Super customer service, excelling quality and finishes honest modest humble people - would recommend any day of the week much appreciated for all your efforts thank you faraj!

Pola Kanabi
03:07 16 Jan 19

Spoke to Firage for a granny flat, everything went so smoothly and i was kept in the loop with everything. So happy with the whole process and i got the best pricing didn't even need to shop around thank you for the help!

Bill P
21:22 15 Jan 19

I recommend granny flat approvals for any one, who is after a great deal and a great granny flat that has been built by granny flat approvals. Great work buddy?

Queeny Lau
01:36 11 Dec 18

It’s 6 months after completion and we are happy. The after service has also been excellent. Belinda organised minor repairs very quickly. Thank you all.

TRANG BINHAN
10:48 26 Aug 17

I sent a SMS to the owner 's mobile phone at 10pm Friday night for an urgent assistance to assess if the granny flat can be built for the property tat I am going for an auction on the next day Saturday!!!! Beleive or not he called me at 9am with clear information and explanation !!! I am so impressed with the services via sms and email. Even they don't charge me anything but very very keen to help. Highly recommend for a reliable and professional services. I would use their service in the future to buold my granny flat!!!! Many thanks gor your help at my need!!!

Francois Hachem
09:00 03 Apr 17

Having zero knowledge of the building industry and being cautious when choosing the right company, I would have never in my wildest thoughts have expected to be blessed with such an informative, knowledgeable, proactive, and most importantly, honest group of individuals. My experience with Granny Flat Approvals and the team including Faraj, Nick and Serge has been the absolute pinnacle of any client / provider relationship I have had in my entire life; the culture Serge breeds in his company is a testament to the outstanding service and quality his team provides. Thank you for making my experience such a positive and memorable one.

Teresa
07:38 30 Mar 17

Faraj and the team have been excellent in there professional handling and friendless in my endeavors to build a granny flat, from design to needing a quick response to questions about the build and all the approvals I needed, so thanks for your patience and tolerance of my questions and changes needed. I would highly recommend these guys to anyone.

Aaron Tao
00:56 30 Mar 17

Faraj and team have been helpful all throughout the application process till approval, they handled all correspondence with engineers and assisted us in following up with council, turned a very stressful process to a very straight forward solution. They managed to push a difficult approval over the line and get the desired results we wanted. If your curious about getting a granny flat for your place i'd suggest have a chat with Faraj and team so they can give their honest opinion about your situation.

Debbie Waite
19:59 22 Feb 17

Just wanted to write and Thank you guys so much for your prompt service. I had an answer within the working day whether I could have a Granny flat in the garden of a house I was thinking of purchasing. Your advice was very much appreciated. I will recommend you to others and I will be using your company in the not to distant future!

mike mike
23:53 09 Dec 16

Thank you guys at Granny Flat Approval. The guys are very attentive, and always very responsive to your concerns. It has been a great learning experience and hopefully would be able to work once again. Thank you Faraj and Nicholas and the whole team.

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