Ancillary development covers structures and uses incidental to a dwelling - garages, carports, garden sheds, cabanas, studios that stop short of being a habitable secondary dwelling, decks and pergolas. Many of these qualify as exempt development, meaning no approval is needed at all, but only where they satisfy strict size, height and boundary setback criteria. Exceed any one of those criteria and the structure moves into complying development or DA territory depending on its scale. A structure genuinely fitted out as a liveable secondary dwelling, with a kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, is a different land use entirely and needs its own approval.
Ancillary structures are the built form most homeowners assume needs no approval at all, and for a genuinely large share of garages, carports, sheds and simple studios, that assumption is correct. The catch is that exempt development criteria are precise rather than approximate - specific size, height and boundary setback figures that either your structure satisfies or does not. There is no partial credit.
Exceeding any single criterion - a shed slightly too tall, a carport slightly too close to the boundary - does not make the structure prohibited. It moves the structure into complying development or a development application, depending on scale, which changes the timeframe and the documentation required but not necessarily the outcome.
A studio fitted out for independent living is assessed as a secondary dwelling or granny flat. Where an exempt limit is exceeded the next step is usually complying development, and a structure that is already built without approval can be dealt with through a building information certificate. A swimming pool has its own rules, covered under swimming pool approval.
We check the proposed structure against the exempt criteria for your specific site before anything is built. Where it fits, that is the end of the process. Where it does not, we advise on whether a small adjustment brings it back within exempt limits, or whether it makes more sense to proceed through complying development or a DA.
2-3 business days
Proposed size, height and boundary setbacks checked against the exempt development criteria for your site.
1-2 business days
Confirming exempt status, or which pathway applies where a criterion is exceeded.
1-4 weeks depending on route
Plans and any supporting material needed for a CDC or DA pathway.
3-8 weeks where applicable
Certification or council determination where required.
Council issued a notice to cease use of the studio as a granny flat. The owner had purchased the property under the impression that the studio could be legally rented out. EHUP was engaged and secured DA approval despite a shortfall in the required land size for a granny flat under the Campbelltown Local Environmental Plan.
An exemption check starts from $1,200 + GST and takes one to two weeks. Where a CDC or DA is needed instead, our fees start from $1,800 + GST and approval takes three to eight weeks, with council or certifier fees separate.
Often not, provided it stays within the strict size, height and boundary setback limits that define exempt development. These limits are specific and unforgiving - a shed that is slightly too tall or too close to a boundary loses its exempt status entirely, not partially.
Fitting it out for independent living - a kitchen, a bathroom and a bedroom together is generally the threshold that reclassifies a studio as a secondary dwelling, which is a different land use with its own approval requirements and its own lot size and floor area criteria.
It does not become automatically prohibited - it simply moves to a different pathway, either complying development or a development application, depending on how far it exceeds the exempt criteria and what else applies to the site.
A boundary setback applies under the exempt development criteria, and it varies with the height and footprint of the structure. Sheds built hard against a boundary without checking this are one of the most common sources of a retrospective compliance issue.
A complying development certificate (CDC) is a fast-track approval for building work that meets every criterion in the Codes SEPP, issued by council or a private certifier with no merit assessment.
A building information certificate is issued by council under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act and confirms it will not take building-related enforcement action against existing work, provided that work is structurally satisfactory.
A secondary dwelling, commonly called a granny flat, is a self-contained dwelling on the same lot as an existing house, supported under the Housing SEPP and often eligible for the fast complying development pathway.
Most residential developments do not need a full Development Application.
A manor house is a specific gentle-density housing type - up to four dwellings within a building of no more than two storeys - introduced to sit between a dual occupancy and a full apartment building in low and medium density zones.
Tell us the address and what you want to do. We'll help identify the appropriate planning pathway, whether it is exempt development, complying development or a full DA. Your first conversation is free.