Big Small Haus is a licensed Queensland builder, QBCC 15506005, and the authorised installer for Outhaus. We install and build granny flats across the Sunshine Coast: from Caloundra and Pelican Waters, through Buderim, Maroochydore and Coolum, and up into the hinterland at Maleny, Montville and Palmwoods, where the views are good and the driveways are steep.
The Sunshine Coast is tighter than most SEQ councils: a smaller size cap in town, a minimum lot size, and the granny flat has to share the main house's services.
| Rule | What it says |
|---|---|
| Maximum size | 60 m² GFA; 90 m² in Rural and Rural residential zones; 45 m² around Moffat, Shelly and Dicky Beach |
| Minimum lot | 600 m² regular-shaped lot in urban zones |
| Distance from the house | Within 20 m |
| Shared | Water meter, sewer connection, street number, letterbox and driveway |
| Height | 4 m around Moffat, Shelly and Dicky Beach; otherwise the height overlay |
| Parking | One extra on-site space |
| Setbacks | Queensland Development Code unless the scheme says otherwise |
| Approval | Generally no planning application in Low density residential |
When you need a planning application
Bushfire, coastal, flood, landslide, heritage and environmental overlays can still trigger one, and so can missing a dwelling house code requirement in the medium density, emerging community and rural zones.
Infrastructure charges
Council charges for its own networks and Unitywater charges for water and sewer. Neither publishes a clear secondary dwelling figure, so ask both before you budget.
Coming
A new Sunshine Coast planning scheme went out for consultation in 2025 and drew about 4,600 submissions. It isn't adopted and has no start date, so the 2014 scheme applies.
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.
Getting a granny flat in on a Sunshine Coast block
Water and sewer: Unitywater
Water and sewer here belong to Unitywater, and the council rules and the utility line up. Council's information sheet says a granny flat must share common services with the house: a single water connection and meter, a single wastewater connection or system, one street number and letterbox, and one driveway. Unitywater says a secondary dwelling that isn't on its own lot can't get a separate water or sewer connection, so it's serviced through private plumbing on the property. If the granny flat is under 60 m², Unitywater asks you to send an enquiry first so it can suggest the most cost effective option.
Near a pipe or easement, order a Detailed Infrastructure Plan from Unitywater. If there are assets on the lot, a certifier checks the work against the Queensland Development Code MP1.4, and if it can't comply you apply to Unitywater to build over or near them, with structural drawings and the engineer's Form 15. Easements are tougher: Unitywater says encroachment requests are rarely granted, and recommends designing to stay out of them.
Hinterland slopes, bushfire and the beach
The 2014 planning scheme has a landslide hazard and steep land overlay code, and a bushfire hazard overlay code, and on the hinterland ridges either can turn a simple job into a planning application. Flood, coastal protection and heritage overlays can do the same nearer the water. Down at Moffat, Shelly and Dicky Beach the granny flat is capped at 45 m² and 4 m high. Council's MyMaps shows the zone and overlays for your lot.
Where it goes on the lot
Council wants the granny flat to read as part of the house, not a second one. A freestanding granny flat has to sit within 20 m of the house, measured from the outermost point of each, share the driveway, and have one extra car park on the lot. On a deep coastal block that's easy. On a hinterland lot where the only flat ground is 40 m down the hill, it isn't, and that's when the overlay codes and a planning application come into the conversation.
Crane access on the Sunshine Coast
On the coast it's the suburban basics: room to set up, powerlines, and how far the crane has to reach. The hinterland is another matter. Winding range roads, steep driveways and cut-and-fill house pads decide how big a truck can get in and where the crane can stand. Sometimes the answer is a smaller module or building on site. We look before we promise either.
What an install costs on the Sunshine Coast
Most installs run $70,000 to $140,000 inc GST, on top of the price of the home. On the Coast it climbs on sloping hinterland blocks that need retaining and taller piers, on long steep driveways that limit the truck and crane, with a bushfire rating that changes the materials, and when a Unitywater main sits where the granny flat wants to go. A flat coastal lot with the services close lands at the lower end. Budget separately for any council and Unitywater infrastructure charges, and ask both.
Questions about granny flats on the Sunshine Coast
Can a Sunshine Coast granny flat have its own water meter?
No. Council's code has the house and granny flat share one water connection and meter and one wastewater connection, and Unitywater says it can't provide a separate connection to a secondary dwelling on the same lot.
Can I rent it out?
Yes. Council's information sheet notes that since September 2022 new secondary dwellings can be rented to anyone. If you're renting an existing one, check with council whether more approvals are needed first.
Do I need council approval?
In the Low density residential zone a granny flat is generally accepted development if it meets the code. Every one still needs a building approval from a private certifier and a plumbing permit from council.
What's the minimum lot size?
In urban zones, a regular-shaped lot of at least 600 m².
My block is steep. Does that change things?
It can. If the lot is in the landslide hazard and steep land overlay, the overlay code applies and can trigger a planning application. The same goes for the bushfire hazard overlay.
Who charges infrastructure charges?
Council charges for its own networks and Unitywater charges for water and sewer. Neither publishes a clear granny flat figure, so ask both before you budget.
Read next
- Queensland granny flat rules, explained
- Owner builder or licensed builder on a modular home
- Renting out a granny flat
- What a granny flat costs in SEQ
- Free block check
- Granny flats in Moreton Bay
- Our jobs, on the tools
- Sunshine Coast, secondary dwelling information sheet
- Sunshine Coast, infrastructure charges
- Sunshine Coast, new planning scheme
- Queensland Government, secondary dwelling changes
- Ministerial statement, Queensland Housing Code
- Business Queensland, SEQ water and sewerage service providers
- Unitywater, connecting a second dwelling
- Unitywater, check before you build
- Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, Part 8 overlays