South Australia · Planning guide
Granny flat rules in SA
In South Australia a granny flat is called ancillary accommodation under the Planning and Design Code. The Code defines it as accommodation on the same site as an existing dwelling, ancillary to that dwelling, with no more than 2 bedrooms, and it can be self-contained. Ancillary accommodation is a listed land use in residential zones such as the General Neighbourhood Zone and has a deemed-to-satisfy pathway in Design in Urban Areas DTS/DPF 19.4, which includes a floor area not exceeding 70m2, shared utilities and shared open space. If every criterion is met the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 requires planning consent to be granted without public notification. Which zone and overlays apply to your site is set spatially through the SA planning database.
Sources read on 9 September 2026. Provisions are quoted word for word from the instrument.
What ancillary accommodation means in SA
The Planning and Design Code is the single statutory instrument for development assessment across South Australia, maintained by the State Planning Commission under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016. Its Part 7 land use definitions do not include the phrase granny flat. The relevant defined term is ancillary accommodation.
The definition has three limbs. The accommodation must be on the same site as an existing dwelling and ancillary to it. It can be self-contained but does not have to be. And it can contain no more than 2 bedrooms, counting any room or area capable of being used as a bedroom. A dwelling, by contrast, is a building or part of a building used as a self-contained residence, so a fully independent second house is assessed as a dwelling and not as ancillary accommodation.
Ancillary accommodation Means accommodation that: (a) is located on the same site as an existing dwelling and is ancillary to that dwelling; and (b) can be (but need not be) self-contained; and (c) contains no more than 2 bedrooms or rooms or areas capable of being used as a bedroom.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Dwelling Means a building or part of a building used as a self-contained residence.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Is ancillary accommodation allowed in your zone?
The Code works zone by zone. Each zone has a desired outcome, performance outcomes with deemed-to-satisfy criteria, and classification tables. In the General Neighbourhood Zone, which covers a large share of suburban Adelaide, ancillary accommodation is the first item in the list of envisaged land uses under DTS/DPF 1.1, so it is an expected use rather than a discretionary one.
Other residential zones, such as the Suburban Neighbourhood Zone, Established Neighbourhood Zone, Hills Neighbourhood Zone and the rural zones, have their own land use lists and their own Table 2. The Code's rules of interpretation say the zone, subzone and overlay that apply to a site are determined spatially through the SA planning database, so the first step for any address is to read the zone from the South Australian Property and Planning Atlas.
Low-rise, low and medium-density housing that supports a range of needs and lifestyles located within easy reach of services and facilities. Employment and community service uses contribute to making the neighbourhood a convenient place to live without compromising residential amenity. Development comprises one or more of the following: (a) Ancillary accommodation (b) Child care facility (c) Co-living (d) Community facility (e) Consulting room (f) Dwelling
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Where a zone, subzone, overlay or technical and numeric variation (TNV) does not spatially apply to the whole of a site that is the subject of the development application, the spatially based rules of the zone (including assessment pathway exclusions), subzone, overlay or TNV are only applicable to the portion of the site to which the zone, subzone, overlay or TNV spatially covers. Reference to the South Australian Property and Planning Atlas of the SA planning database will be made to determine whether a zone, subzone, overlay or TNV is relevant to the site of the proposed development application.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The deemed-to-satisfy design criteria
The design standard for ancillary accommodation sits in the general development policy Design in Urban Areas, performance outcome PO 19.4. The performance outcome asks that the accommodation does not detract from the streetscape or the appearance of the main house and neighbours, and that it is integrated within the site with shared utilities and shared open space.
The deemed-to-satisfy criteria DTS/DPF 19.4 turn that into a checklist of thirteen items. The building must be ancillary to a dwelling on the same site, have a floor area not exceeding 70m2, sit behind the building line of the main dwelling and at least 900mm from a secondary street boundary, keep boundary walls to 11.5m and no more than 45% of the boundary, keep wall or post height to 3m and roof height to 5m above natural ground level, retain a minimum area of soft landscaping across the site, and have no separate utility connections. It must also have unrestricted access to the main dwelling's private open space.
The utilities and open space criteria are what distinguish ancillary accommodation from a second dwelling in SA. A unit with its own separately metered services and its own fenced yard is being designed as a dwelling, and the site area and frontage rules for dwellings will then apply.
Ancillary accommodation: (a) is sited and designed to not detract from the streetscape or appearance of primary residential buildings on the site or neighbouring properties (b) is integrated within the site of the dwelling to which it is ancillary and incorporates shared utilities and shared open space.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Ancillary accommodation satisfies (a) to (m), inclusive: (a) is ancillary to a dwelling erected on the same site (b) has a floor area not exceeding 70m2 (c) is not constructed, added to, or altered so that any part is situated: (i) in front of any part of the building line of the dwelling to which it is ancillary or (ii) within 900mm of a boundary of the allotment with a secondary street (if the land has boundaries on two or more roads)
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
(d) if situated on a boundary (not being a boundary with a primary street or secondary street), does not exceed a length of 11.5m unless: (i) a longer wall or structure exists on the adjacent site and is situated on the same allotment boundary and (ii) the proposed wall or structure will be built along the same length of boundary as the existing adjacent wall or structure to the same or lesser extent (e) if situated on a boundary of the allotment (not being a boundary with a primary street or secondary street), all walls or structures on the boundary will not exceed 45% of the length of that boundary (f) will not be located within 3m of any other wall along the same boundary unless on an adjacent site on that boundary there is an existing wall of a building that would be adjacent to or abut the proposed wall or structure
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
(g) has a wall height or post height not exceeding 3m above natural ground level (and not including a gable end) (h) has a roof height where no part of the roof is more than 5m above the natural ground level
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
(k) does not have separate connection to utilities and services (such as electricity, gas, water, telecommunications, sewerage system, wastewater system or waste control system) to those servicing the existing dwelling (l) has unrestricted access to the private open space associated with the existing dwelling to which it is ancillary (m) in the case of the Rural Zone, Productive Rural Landscape Zone, or Rural Horticulture Zone, is located within 20m of an existing dwelling.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The approval pathway: deemed-to-satisfy or performance assessed
Under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 no development may be undertaken unless it is approved, and development is sorted into accepted, code assessed and impact assessed categories. Ancillary accommodation is code assessed. Each zone's Table 2 lists it as a deemed-to-satisfy class of development, with the zone, general development policy and overlay criteria that must all be met.
In the General Neighbourhood Zone the Table 2 row for ancillary accommodation points to the zone's land use and site coverage criteria, the Design in Urban Areas criteria including DTS/DPF 19.4, and overlay criteria such as the Aircraft Noise Exposure Overlay, and it lists overlays such as the bushfire and coastal overlays that take the class out of the deemed-to-satisfy pathway altogether.
If every criterion is met, section 106 of the Act says the development must be granted planning consent, and the consent is granted without public notification. If one criterion is missed, section 107 applies and the proposal is performance assessed on its merits against the performance outcomes in Table 3, with notification of adjacent owners unless the Code excludes it. Minor variations can still be treated as deemed-to-satisfy under section 106(2).
Subject to this Act, no development may be undertaken unless the development is an approved development. Development will be divided into 3 categories for the purposes of assessment in relation to planning consent as follows: (a) accepted development; (b) code assessed development; (c) impact assessed development.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Subject to subsection (1a), if a proposed development is classified as deemed-to-satisfy development, the development must be granted planning consent. If a relevant authority is satisfied that development is deemed-to-satisfy development except for 1 or more minor variations, the relevant authority must assess it as being deemed-to-satisfy (and that determination will then have effect for the purposes of this Act). A planning consent under this section must be granted without undertaking a process for public notification or submissions in relation to the proposed development.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The following table identifies Classes of Development that are classified as Deemed-to-Satisfy Development subject to meeting the ‘Deemed-to-Satisfy Development Classification Criteria’. Provisions referred to in the table are Deemed-to-Satisfy Criteria. Where a development comprises more than one Class of Development the relevant criteria will be taken to be the sum of the criteria for each Class of Development.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Building consent and other approvals
Planning consent is only one part of a development approval in SA. Section 102 of the Act requires consent against the Planning Rules, which is planning consent, and against the Building Rules, which is building consent. A granny flat needs both before it is an approved development, and both are lodged through the PlanSA portal. Where the site sits in an overlay with a referral, for example a bushfire hazard overlay, the application is also referred to the prescribed body under section 122.
Subject to this Act, a development is an approved development if, and only if, a relevant authority has assessed the development against, and granted a consent in respect of, each of the following matters (insofar as they are relevant to the particular development): (a) — (i) the relevant provisions of the Planning Rules; and (ii) to the extent provided by Part 7 Division 2—the impacts of the development; and (iii) if relevant, requirements applying under Part 15 Division 2 (other than under section 198), (planning consent); (b) the relevant provisions of the Building Rules (building consent);
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
What changes council by council in South Australia
The state instruments set the frame. These points are set by each council's own instrument or mapping, so the answer for an address depends on which council it sits in.
- SA does not have council planning schemes. The zone, subzone and overlays at a site are set by the Planning and Design Code and applied spatially through the SA planning database, and they differ street by street rather than council by council.
- Which zone applies decides whether ancillary accommodation is an envisaged use in DTS/DPF 1.1 and which Table 2 criteria apply to it.
- Overlays such as the Hazards (Bushfire) overlays, Coastal Areas Overlay, Historic Area Overlay and heritage overlays are listed in each zone's Table 2 as exclusions that take ancillary accommodation off the deemed-to-satisfy pathway.
- Technical and numeric variations mapped to a site, for example minimum site area or building height, can vary the zone numbers that the main dwelling and the site as a whole must meet.
- The council is usually the relevant authority for a code assessed application through its assessment manager or panel, so lodgement practice varies even though the rules do not.
For your address
How the $150 report settles this for one site
A Casa preliminary planning report reads the Code zone, subzone, overlays and any technical and numeric variations mapped at your parcel from the SA planning database, confirms whether ancillary accommodation is a listed use and a deemed-to-satisfy class in that zone, and sets out the DTS/DPF 19.4 criteria and the overlay exclusions that apply at that address. It gives you the pathway and the checklist, not the planning or building consent itself.
Common questions
How big can a granny flat be in SA?
The deemed-to-satisfy criterion in Design in Urban Areas DTS/DPF 19.4(b) is a floor area not exceeding 70m2. A larger unit is not prohibited but drops out of the deemed-to-satisfy pathway and is performance assessed against PO 19.4.
How many bedrooms can ancillary accommodation have?
The Part 7 definition allows no more than 2 bedrooms or rooms or areas capable of being used as a bedroom. A three bedroom unit is not ancillary accommodation under the Code.
Can the granny flat have its own power and water meter?
Not under the deemed-to-satisfy pathway. DTS/DPF 19.4(k) requires that it does not have a separate connection to utilities and services to those servicing the existing dwelling. Separate connections push the proposal toward assessment as a dwelling.
Will my neighbours be notified?
Not if the proposal is deemed-to-satisfy, because section 106(3) of the Act says the consent must be granted without public notification. If it is performance assessed, section 107 requires notice to adjacent owners unless the zone's notification table excludes that class.
Do I need a minimum lot size for a granny flat in SA?
The DTS/DPF 19.4 criteria quoted here do not set a minimum site area for ancillary accommodation. What they require is that the accommodation stays ancillary, shares utilities and open space, and keeps the site's soft landscaping percentage. The zone's site area rules apply to dwellings, not to ancillary accommodation.
Can I subdivide the granny flat onto its own title later?
The definition requires ancillary accommodation to be on the same site as the dwelling it serves, so putting it on a separate allotment means it is no longer ancillary accommodation and the land division and dwelling site area rules apply instead.
Sources read for this guide
- Planning and Design Code (SA), Version 2026.15 (13 August 2026), State Planning Commissionread 9 September 2026
- Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 (SA), version 30.7.2026read 9 September 2026
Not covered here
- DTS/DPF 19.4 items (i) and (j) (non-reflective sheet metal and the soft landscaping percentage table) are summarised in prose and not quoted in full.
- The General Neighbourhood Zone Table 2 row for ancillary accommodation is a multi-column table that does not extract as a sentence, so the criteria it cross-references are described rather than quoted. The table introduction is quoted.
- Only the General Neighbourhood Zone was read in detail. Other residential zones have their own land use lists and Table 2 criteria that were not extracted.
- Planning and Design Code quotes were taken from Casa's cached copy of the plan.sa.gov.au PDF (Version 2026.15, sha256 ca767fce, fetched 2026-09-08 and re-read 2026-09-09). The Act was fetched live from legislation.sa.gov.au on 2026-09-09.
More SA guides
- Dual occupancy rules in SA
- Subdivision rules in SA
- Fast-track approvals in SA
- Height and setback rules in SA
- Do I need a DA in SA?
Granny flat rules in other states
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