Granny flats for rent

Homeowners will be encouraged to rent secondary dwellings for the next three years under emergency planning changes expected to house thousands of Queenslanders.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Planning Steven Miles said the changes, suggested by stakeholders at the Queensland Housing Roundtable, will remove restrictions on people who can live in secondary dwellings.

“Many homeowners have granny flats that they’ve built or converted for family members or teenagers who have since moved out,” Mr Miles said.

“Right now, most homeowners can’t rent secondary dwellings, such as granny flats, to anyone other than their immediate family.

“At the same time some Queenslanders are sleeping in their cars or in tents.

“It just makes sense to allow existing accommodation to be occupied by someone other than a relative to provide more affordable accommodation for Queenslanders.

“It also allows homeowners to earn rent, helping them meet the increased cost of living.

“We can move people in to underutilized granny flats much more quickly than constructing new properties.”

Minister for Communities and Housing Leeanne Enoch said it was one of many great ideas raised at the roundtable held ahead of the Queensland Housing Summit next month.

“One of the housing challenges identified was ensuring more accessible and affordable accommodation for renters,” Ms Enoch said.

“This shortfall has been exacerbated by flooding in southeast Queensland earlier in the year but is also an issue for many of the regional parts of the state too as interstate migration increased significantly in the past two years.

“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to looking at a range of avenues for renters to have access to a greater range of places to live.

“These proposals will provide greater housing choice and diversity within lower density residential areas to accommodate smaller households such as students, single persons, older people and couple-only households.”

Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) President Shannon Batch said the changes would help address Queensland’s housing challenges.

“The Planning Institute of Australia support more housing diversity, and this change will help deliver additional housing types that can meet Queenslanders’ needs,” Ms Batch said.

“This change highlights how good planning can help address our housing challenge and reduce the barriers to more diverse housing forms.”

The Deputy Premier said the changes would be reviewed after three years to ensure there were no unintended consequences and consider future housing supply.

“Each homeowner will of course need to ensure their secondary dwelling complies with fire and building provisions so accommodation for renters is safe,” he said.

ENDS

Media contact:

Amy Hunter 0423 651 484 (Deputy Premier’s office)

Pema Bastin 0422 655 582 (Minister Enoch’s office)