Granny flats on the Gold Coast: rules, costs, builders

Big Small Haus is a licensed Queensland builder, QBCC 15506005, and the authorised installer for Outhaus. We install and build granny flats across the Gold Coast: the northern estates around Coomera and Pimpama, the canal suburbs behind Broadbeach and Mermaid Waters, the older southern blocks from Burleigh to Coolangatta, and up into the hinterland at Mudgeeraba and the valleys behind it.

The Gold Coast keeps it simple: 80 m², close to the house, sharing the driveway. Stay inside the rules and there's no planning application and no infrastructure charge.

Rule	What it says
Maximum size	80 m² gross floor area
Distance from the house	Attached or within 10 m; within 20 m in Rural and Rural residential zones; within 3 m in conservation and landscape areas
Driveway	Shares the main house's driveway and crossover
Look	Same materials, reads as one dwelling from the street
Privacy	Upper windows and decks overlooking a neighbour need screening
Setbacks	City Plan and the Queensland Development Code
Infrastructure charges	None up to 80 m²; over that it's charged as a second dwelling
Approval	No planning application in a residential zone if it meets the code

A finished white-clad second home with its glass doors open onto a deck

Where it goes wrong

Put it too far from the house or give it its own driveway and it starts to look like a second house. A 2025 Development Tribunal case at Worongary upheld a refusal of a 66 m² granny flat sitting 41 m from the house with its own crossover. Bushfire, flood, coastal and environmental overlays can also bring in a planning application.

Not sure about your block?Send us the address. We check the zone, lot size, overlays, sewer and crane access, and tell you straight.Get a quote

Coming

A new Gold Coast planning scheme is due out for submissions in 2027. City Plan version 14 applies until then.

Rules that apply across Queensland

You can rent a granny flat to anyone, not only family. The state removed the family-only test in September 2022. It still has to be secondary to the main house and can't be sold separately.
You always need a building approval from a licensed certifier, and a plumbing approval from council.
Queensland's new Housing Code started on 1 September 2026 with new setbacks. Each council keeps its current rules until it adopts the new code, by 1 September 2029 at the latest.

What we'd check on your block

The zone and the size cap, lot size, every overlay, where the sewer runs, the slope, and whether a truck and crane can get in. Send us the address and we'll tell you straight.

A cleared and levelled pad on a sloping block, ready for footings

Getting a granny flat in on a Gold Coast block

Water and sewer: the City of Gold Coast

On the Gold Coast the council runs the water and sewer itself, so the same organisation that sets the planning rules owns the pipes under your lawn. Most building near council's sewer, water and stormwater pipes is regulated by the Queensland Development Code MP1.4. Your certifier can assess a lot of it, but some applications have to be referred to council. If the building meets the code but sits inside a council easement, you still need council's consent through its BOSE request form.

Council says every property has its own water meter, and that in duplexes and group or strata properties one meter can serve some or all of the dwellings. A granny flat normally shares the house's water, power and sewer connections, with one bill. The Queensland Government has confirmed an owner can split them, at a connection charge from the utility, so sort that out before you promise a tenant their own water bill.

Canals, flood and the hinterland

Canal blocks are their own species. Owners of waterfront land are responsible for the revetment wall on their property, and council says you need approval for development work on tidal land. Put a crane on outriggers near an old wall and it's a question for the engineer, not a guess on the day.

For flood, council requires habitable floors at or above the defined flood level with at least 300 mm freeboard, under the City Plan flood overlay code. Its flood level search report gives you the number for your lot. In the hinterland the rules are kinder on distance, with the granny flat allowed within 20 m of the house in the Rural and Rural residential zones, but steep driveways, tight bends and bushfire overlays decide what's possible.

Crane access on the Gold Coast

On the flat coastal strip the ground is rarely the problem. The street is: tight cul-de-sacs, cars parked both sides and powerlines along the verge. In the newer northern estates the lots are small and the neighbours' fences are close, so the crane often has to reach over the house from the road. Up the hill, a long sloping driveway can rule out a big truck altogether. That's when we build on site instead of craning in.

What an install costs on the Gold Coast

Most installs run $70,000 to $140,000 inc GST, on top of the price of the home. On the Gold Coast it climbs with a council sewer or easement under the spot you want, a flood level that lifts the floor, crane work near a canal wall, and a long hinterland driveway that needs a smaller truck or a second lift. It comes down on a flat suburban lot with the sewer close and room for the crane. Here's the one bit of good news council gives you up front: no infrastructure charge on a granny flat up to 80 m².

Questions about granny flats on the Gold Coast

Does the Gold Coast charge infrastructure charges on a granny flat?

Not up to 80 m². Over that, council's charges resolution treats it as a second dwelling and charges it.

Can the granny flat have its own driveway?

Not if you want to stay out of a planning application. The code has the granny flat share the main house's driveway and crossover. A 2025 Development Tribunal case at Worongary upheld a refusal of a granny flat 41 m from the house with its own crossover.

How high does the floor need to be on a flood-mapped block?

At or above the defined flood level, plus at least 300 mm freeboard. Order council's flood level search report for your lot to get the number, and get a surveyor to set out the real levels.

I've got a canal block. What changes?

You own the job of maintaining the revetment wall on your property, and work on tidal land needs approval. We'd look at the wall before any crane goes near it.

What if the sewer runs where I want the granny flat?

Your certifier checks it against MP1.4. Some designs need a referral to council, and building inside a council easement needs council's consent through its BOSE form even when the code is met.