Tasmania · Planning guide
Granny flat rules in Tasmania
Under the Tasmanian Planning Scheme a granny flat is a secondary residence, a self-contained additional residence of no more than 60 square metres that shares access, parking and services with the main house. Because the definition of single dwelling ignores a secondary residence, the use stays No Permit Required in the General Residential and Inner Residential zones, and no planning permit is needed if the building meets every Acceptable Solution in the zone and no code requires one. Larger or separately serviced flats are multiple dwellings and need a permit.
Sources read on 9 September 2026. Provisions are quoted word for word from the instrument.
What the Tasmanian scheme calls a granny flat
The State Planning Provisions, the common rulebook every Tasmanian council's scheme is built on, do not use the words granny flat or ancillary dwelling. The term is secondary residence, defined in Table 3.1. It must be self-contained, have a gross floor area of no more than 60 square metres, be appurtenant to a single dwelling, and share that dwelling's access, parking and its water, sewerage, gas, electricity and telecommunications connections and meters.
That last limb is the practical test. A flat with its own driveway, its own meters or its own sewer connection is not a secondary residence no matter how small it is. It becomes a second dwelling in its own right.
The word dwelling itself is defined broadly, as a building or part of one used as a self-contained residence with food preparation, a bath or shower, laundry, toilet and sink. A secondary residence is a dwelling under that definition, which is why the scheme needed a separate rule to stop it turning the site into multiple dwellings.
secondary residence means an additional residence which is self-contained and: (a) has a gross floor area not more than 60m²; (b) is appurtenant to a single dwelling; (c) shares with the single dwelling access and parking, and water, sewerage, gas, electricity and telecommunications connections and meters; and (d) may include laundry facilities.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
dwelling means a building, or part of a building, used as a self-contained residence and which includes food preparation facilities, a bath or shower, laundry facilities, a toilet and sink, and any outbuilding and works normally forming part of a dwelling.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Why a secondary residence keeps the site a single dwelling
The definition of single dwelling is a dwelling on a lot on which no other dwelling, other than a secondary residence, is situated. Multiple dwellings means two or more dwellings on a site. Read together, a house plus a secondary residence is still a single dwelling for the use tables, and a house plus anything larger than a secondary residence is multiple dwellings.
That distinction decides the permit. In the General Residential Zone the Residential use class is No Permit Required if for a single dwelling, and Permitted if not listed as No Permit Required. The Inner Residential Zone use table reads the same way. So a compliant secondary residence needs no permit for the use, while a larger second dwelling is Permitted, which in Tasmania means a permit must be applied for and must be granted if the standards are met.
The Residential use class description in Table 6.2 lists a secondary residence among its examples, alongside single or multiple dwellings, confirming it sits inside the same use class rather than being a separate use.
single dwelling means a dwelling on a lot on which no other dwelling, other than a secondary residence, is situated.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
multiple dwellings means 2 or more dwellings on a site.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
No Permit Required Natural and Cultural Values Management Passive Recreation Residential If for a single dwelling. Utilities If for minor utilities. Permitted Residential If not listed as No Permit Required. Visitor Accommodation
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Residential use of land for self-contained or shared accommodation. Examples include a secondary residence, boarding house, communal residence, home-based business, home-based child care, residential care facility, residential college, respite centre, assisted housing, retirement village and single or multiple dwellings.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
When no planning permit is needed
Tasmania's No Permit Required status has conditions. Clause 6.6.1 says a permit is not required only if the use is No Permit Required in the use table, the use or development complies with each applicable standard without relying on any Performance Criteria, it is not Discretionary or Prohibited under any other provision, and no code requires a permit.
For a secondary residence in the General Residential Zone that means the building must meet the Acceptable Solutions in clause 8.4, which are written for all dwellings: frontage setback, garage setback, the building envelope, site coverage, private open space, privacy and frontage fences. Where the design relies on a Performance Criterion instead, the whole proposal becomes Discretionary and a permit application with public notice follows.
Codes are the other gate. If the parcel is in a bushfire prone area, a flood or landslip hazard area, a heritage place or precinct, or a road or rail attenuation area, the relevant code may require a permit even for a use that is No Permit Required in the zone. Which codes apply is set by the overlay maps in the council's Local Provisions Schedule.
A permit is not required to commence or carry out a use or development if: (a) the use is within a Use Class specified in the applicable Use Table as being a use for which no permit is required; (b) the use or development complies with each applicable standard and does not rely on any Performance Criteria to comply with each applicable standard; (c) the use or development is not Discretionary under any other provision of this planning scheme; (d) the use or development is not Prohibited under any other provision of this planning scheme; and (e) a permit for such use and development is not required by a code.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The planning authority has a discretion to refuse or permit a use or development if: (a) the use is within a Use Class specified in the applicable Use Table as being a use which is Discretionary; (b) the use or development relies on a Performance Criterion to demonstrate compliance with an applicable standard; or (c) it is Discretionary under any other provision of this planning scheme.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Where there is an inconsistency between a provision in a code and a provision in a zone, the code provision prevails.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
The standards a granny flat must meet
The General Residential Zone development standards in clause 8.4 apply to all dwellings, and a secondary residence is a dwelling. The frontage setback is at least 4.5 metres from a primary frontage, or the setback of the existing house if that is less. The building envelope requires the building to sit inside a line drawn at 45 degrees from 3 metres above ground at the side and rear boundaries up to a height of 8.5 metres, unless the boundary wall exceptions apply.
Site coverage for all dwellings on the site is capped at 50 per cent, and the house and flat together must fit under that. Private open space of at least 24 square metres in one location with a minimum dimension of 4 metres is required for a dwelling. The Inner Residential Zone uses a 3 metre frontage setback, a 9.5 metre envelope height and 65 per cent site coverage instead.
The multiple dwelling density standard, a site area per dwelling of at least 325 square metres in the General Residential Zone, is written for multiple dwellings. Whether a council applies it to a house plus a secondary residence turns on the single dwelling definition above, and the scheme text does not say so in terms. Ask the council or read the Local Provisions Schedule for any local rule before relying on that gap.
Unless within a building area on a sealed plan, a dwelling, excluding garages, carports and protrusions that extend not more than 0.9m into the frontage setback, must have a setback from a frontage that is: (a) if the frontage is a primary frontage, not less than 4.5m, or, if the setback from the primary frontage is less than 4.5m, not less than the setback, from the primary frontage, of any existing dwelling on the site;
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
(a) be contained within a building envelope (refer to Figures 8.1, 8.2 and 8.3) determined by: (i) a distance equal to the frontage setback or, for an internal lot, a distance of 4.5m from the rear boundary of a property with an adjoining frontage; and (ii) projecting a line at an angle of 45 degrees from the horizontal at a height of 3m above existing ground level at the side and rear boundaries to a building height of not more than 8.5m above existing ground level; and
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Dwellings must have: (a) a site coverage of not more than 50% (excluding eaves up to 0.6m wide); and (b) for multiple dwellings, a total area of private open space of not less than 60m² associated with each dwelling, unless the dwelling has a finished floor level that is entirely more than 1.8m above the finished ground level (excluding a garage, carport or entry foyer). A2 A dwelling must have private open space that: (a) is in one location and is not less than: (i) 24m²; or (ii) 12m², if the dwelling is a multiple dwelling with a finished floor level that is entirely more than 1.8m above the finished ground level (excluding a garage, carport or entry foyer); (b) has a minimum horizontal dimension of not less than: (i) 4m; or (ii) 2m, if the dwelling is a multiple dwelling with a finished floor level that is entirely more than 1.8m above the finished ground level (excluding a garage, carport or entry foyer);
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
(a) if the frontage is a primary frontage, not less than 3m, or, if the setback from the primary frontage is less than 3m, not less than the setback, from the primary frontage, of any existing dwelling on the site; (ii) projecting a line at an angle of 45 degrees from the horizontal at a height of 3m above existing ground level at the side and rear boundaries to a building height of not more than 9.5m above existing ground level; and (a) a site coverage of not more than 65% (excluding eaves up to 0.6m wide); and
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Multiple dwellings must have a site area per dwelling of not less than 325m².
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Bigger flats, separate services and separate titles
A flat over 60 square metres, or one with its own meters, driveway or sewer connection, is not a secondary residence. The site then holds multiple dwellings, the Residential use is Permitted rather than No Permit Required, and the multiple dwelling standards apply: site area per dwelling, private open space per dwelling, sunlight to open space and waste storage. A planning permit must be applied for, and under clause 6.7.1 it must be granted if every Acceptable Solution is met.
Subdividing a granny flat onto its own lot is a separate question governed by the lot design standards of the zone, which require each new lot to meet the minimum area, frontage and building area tests. A secondary residence that shares access and services with the main house is not designed to be split off, and the strata division exemption in the scheme is limited to lawfully constructed or approved buildings.
Every Tasmanian council also has a Local Provisions Schedule that can add a specific area plan or a site specific qualification changing the zone standards for particular land. The state provisions quoted here are the default, and the council's schedule is where any local variation lives.
A use or development must be granted a permit if: (a) the use is within a Use Class specified in the applicable Use Table as being a use which is Permitted; (b) the use or development complies with each applicable standard and does not rely on any Performance Criteria to comply with each applicable standard; (c) the use or development is not Discretionary under any other provision of this planning scheme; and (d) the use or development is not Prohibited under any other provision of this planning scheme.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
Each Local Provisions Schedule is permitted to include a specific area plan that is in addition to, modifies, or is in substitution for, a provision in a zone Use Table or a use or development standard in a zone or code.
Read the source · retrieved 9 September 2026
What changes council by council in Tasmania
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.
- The zone at the parcel is set on the zoning maps in the council's Local Provisions Schedule, and only the General Residential and Inner Residential zone standards are quoted here.
- Code overlays (bushfire prone areas, flood and landslip hazard, local heritage, attenuation, scenic protection) are mapped in the Local Provisions Schedule and can require a permit for a use that is otherwise No Permit Required.
- A specific area plan or site specific qualification in the Local Provisions Schedule can add to, modify or replace the zone use table and development standards for particular land.
- Councils still operating an interim planning scheme rather than the Tasmanian Planning Scheme use different definitions and standards.
For your address
How the $150 report settles this for one site
A Casa preliminary planning report reads the zone, the code overlays and any specific area plan at the parcel from the Local Provisions Schedule and states whether a secondary residence would be No Permit Required there, which Acceptable Solutions the design must meet to stay on that path, and which codes would pull it into a permit. Where the scheme text leaves a question open, such as how the density standard applies to a house plus secondary residence, the report says so rather than resolving it by assumption.
Common questions
How big can a granny flat be in Tasmania?
A secondary residence must have a gross floor area of not more than 60 square metres. Above that it is a second dwelling and the site holds multiple dwellings.
Does a granny flat need a planning permit in Tasmania?
Not for the use in the General Residential or Inner Residential Zone, because a single dwelling with a secondary residence is No Permit Required. No permit is needed at all only if the building meets every applicable Acceptable Solution without relying on Performance Criteria and no code requires a permit.
Can the granny flat have its own power meter or driveway?
No. The definition requires a secondary residence to share the single dwelling's access and parking and its water, sewerage, gas, electricity and telecommunications connections and meters. Separate services make it a second dwelling.
What if my design does not meet an Acceptable Solution?
It can still be approved under the matching Performance Criterion, but relying on a Performance Criterion makes the proposal Discretionary, so a permit application with public notice is required and the council may refuse it.
Is a granny flat the same as an ancillary dwelling?
The State Planning Provisions do not use the term ancillary dwelling. The equivalent term is secondary residence. Some older interim schemes used other terms, and a council still on an interim scheme applies its own definitions.
Sources read for this guide
- Tasmanian Planning Scheme, State Planning Provisions, SPP-20260907-v17.pdf (v17 effective 07/09/2026), Tasmanian Planning Scheme Onlineread 9 September 2026
- Tasmanian Planning Scheme Online, planning schemes list confirming the current SPP file and versionread 9 September 2026
- Tasmanian Planning Commission, Tasmanian Planning Scheme index pageread 9 September 2026
Not covered here
- The State Planning Provisions do not state in terms whether the multiple dwelling density standard (8.4.1) applies to a house plus a secondary residence. The guide reports the definitions and leaves that question to the council.
- The Building Act 2016 (Tas) categories of building work, which decide the building approval for the flat, were not fetched.
- Interim planning schemes still in force in some municipalities were not read.
More TAS guides
- Dual occupancy rules in Tasmania
- Subdivision rules in Tasmania
- Fast track approvals in Tasmania
- Height and setback rules in Tasmania
- Do I need a planning permit in Tasmania?
Granny flat rules in other states
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