Building a granny flat in Melbourne made easier for homeowners

Changes to regulations in Victoria mean that it’s easier to build a granny flat in Melbourne and regional areas. It’s not correct to think you can just go ahead and build a granny flat without any approval, however. Our network partner in Melbourne, a VIC-registered architect, is highly experienced and successful at getting building permits sorted for Backyard Pods customers, and you can start by getting advice.

It started with NSW and its fast-track granny flat approval process, where a complying development (within rules and guidelines) wouldn’t need to go through the development application (DA) process, making it easier, cheaper, and faster to get granny flat approval in Sydney and throughout NSW. Then QLD unlocked secondary dwellings to ease accommodation needs, with a certification process that makes it very easy.

VIC has been much slower to open the gates for more granny flat development in Melbourne and outer regions where more long-term and short-term accommodation options are needed. The lower cost of building a granny flat in Melbourne with Backyard Pods means that it’s easier for people to make the investment and the investment recoups much sooner compared to investing in a rental unit, villa, or townhouse.

There were formerly restrictions on granny flats in Melbourne where they need to be movable and could only be occupied by a dependent member of the family. These restriction had many families taking the DPU option. Now, however, structures can be fully self-contained, and planning permits are no longer required for a compliant secondary dwelling.

Anyhow, now rules are changing, you can start to unlock the potential in your backyard and help ease the urban housing crisis by investing in a granny flat. You can easily get advice on your property specifically to be certain that you won’t need a planning permit and then get help with your building permit for your project to easily proceed. Click the link below to send us some details and we’ll help you get started.