Secondary dwelling in Liverpool: Housing SEPP DA or Housing Code CDC

A secondary dwelling (granny flat) in the Liverpool local government area can be approved in two ways: by a development application to Liverpool City Council under Chapter 3, Part 1 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021, which caps the secondary dwelling at 60 square metres (or a larger figure where the LEP allows) and prohibits subdivision of the lot, or as complying development under the Housing Code in the Codes SEPP where the lot and design meet the code’s fixed standards. Liverpool Local Environmental Plan 2008 supplies the floor space ratio and height maps, the flood planning clause and a small FSR bonus for secondary dwellings in mapped areas; Liverpool Development Control Plan 2008 supplies the design controls; and lots in the Austral, Leppington and Edmondson Park growth precincts sit under the Precincts (Western Parkland City) SEPP and the Liverpool Growth Centres Precincts DCP instead. This guide is for investors adding a granny flat in Liverpool, Casula, Moorebank, Prestons, Hoxton Park, Carnes Hill, Chipping Norton, Austral or Leppington who want the rules, the numbers and the choice between the two pathways.

Who this is for: investors and owners in the Liverpool local government area planning a secondary dwelling who want to compare the Housing SEPP DA route with the Housing Code CDC route, understand the Liverpool LEP 2008 and DCP 2008 controls and the growth area exceptions, and choose the pathway that suits the lot.

What does the Housing SEPP allow for a secondary dwelling?

Chapter 3, Part 1 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021 is the state-wide permissibility provision. Clause 50 applies the Part to land in a residential zone where a dwelling house is permissible under another instrument, which in Liverpool means the R2, R3, R4 and R5 zones. Clause 51 provides that consent must not be granted for the subdivision of a lot on which development has been carried out under the Part. Clause 52 provides that consent must not be granted unless no dwellings other than the principal and secondary dwellings will be on the land, the total floor area of both is no more than the maximum permitted for a dwelling house under another instrument, and the total floor area of the secondary dwelling is no more than 60 square metres or, if a greater area is permitted under another instrument, that greater area.

When is the Housing Code CDC the better route?

Part 3 of State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008, the Housing Code, allows a secondary dwelling to be certified as complying development by the council or a registered certifier where every code standard is met: the code’s lot size and width requirements, its setbacks, height, floor area (the same 60 square metre cap), landscaped area and parking standards, and the general exclusions. The code excludes heritage items and conservation areas, public reserves, environmentally sensitive land, some flood and bushfire prone land and land above 25 ANEF. The certifier cannot vary a standard. Our DA or CDC pathway advice applies the comparison to the lot.

What do Liverpool LEP 2008 FSR, height and flood clauses do to a granny flat?

Clause 4.3(2) of Liverpool LEP 2008 applies the Height of Buildings Map and clause 4.4(2) the Floor Space Ratio Map, with clause 4.5 defining FSR as gross floor area over site area. Clause 4.4(2A) is the Liverpool-specific bonus: despite the map, a building used for an attached dwelling, multi dwelling housing, semi-detached dwellings, a secondary dwelling or two or more dwellings attached by a common wall, on land within Area 2 or Area 3 on the Floor Space Ratio Map, may have an FSR up to 0.05:1 greater than the map figure, or up to 0.1:1 greater where the lot adjoins a rear or side lane giving vehicular access. Clause 5.21 Flood planning prevents consent within the flood planning area unless the council is satisfied the development is compatible with the flood function of the land, will not adversely affect flood behaviour elsewhere, allows safe occupation and evacuation, manages risk to life and avoids erosion. A flood-affected lot in Chipping Norton or Moorebank needs a flood report and a floor level at or above the flood planning level.

Which parts of Liverpool DCP 2008 apply?

Liverpool DCP 2008 is arranged in parts. Part 1 General controls for all development must be read for every DA and carries the site analysis, stormwater, cut and fill, tree, parking and notification requirements. Part 3 covers residential development, with Part 3.2 for dwelling houses on land over 400 square metres and Part 3.5 for smaller lots. There is no standalone secondary dwelling part, so the council assesses a granny flat DA against Part 1 and the dwelling house part that fits the lot, applying the setback, private open space, privacy and parking controls on merit. A full DCP review is under way, so quote the current part.

Growth area lots: Austral, Leppington and Edmondson Park

Land in the Liverpool growth precincts is not controlled by Liverpool LEP 2008. State Environmental Planning Policy (Precincts, Western Parkland City) 2021 carries the Liverpool Growth Centres Precinct Plan in Appendix 4 and the Edmondson Park South site in Appendix 1, and Liverpool City Council’s DCP page directs that the Edmondson Park South Development Control Plan 2012 and the Liverpool Growth Centres Precincts Development Control Plan apply in those areas. Growth centre DCPs set their own minimum lot sizes by dwelling type and density band; the equivalent Camden Growth Centre Precincts DCP requires a 450 square metre lot for a secondary dwelling in its 15 and 20 dwellings per hectare bands, and the Liverpool DCP’s table should be read for the lot before assuming a flat is possible on a 300 to 400 square metre release lot. The Housing SEPP’s 60 square metre cap and the clause 51 subdivision prohibition apply in the growth precincts as elsewhere.

A sequence for a Liverpool secondary dwelling

1. Obtain the section 10.7(2) and (5) certificate and confirm the instrument (Liverpool LEP 2008 or the Precincts SEPP precinct plan), the zone, the FSR and height map figures, whether the lot is in Area 2 or 3 on the FSR map, and any flood or bushfire notation.
2. Measure the existing house’s gross floor area from the survey and calculate the remaining floor space under the FSR, adding the clause 4.4(2A) bonus if it applies; if 60 square metres does not fit, decide between a smaller flat and a clause 4.6 request.
3. Test the Housing Code lot size and width, setbacks, height and exclusions; if the design fits, a CDC through a registered certifier is the faster route.
4. Prepare the BASIX certificate, stormwater plan, survey and any flood or bushfire reports, write the SEE with Housing SEPP clause 52, LEP and DCP compliance tables, and lodge through the NSW Planning Portal (DA) or with the certifier (CDC). Our secondary dwelling and granny flat planning service covers each step.

Definitions

Secondary dwelling

A self-contained dwelling established with, and on the same lot as, a principal dwelling, permitted with consent under Chapter 3, Part 1 of the Housing SEPP and capped at 60 square metres or the greater area the LEP allows.

Housing Code

Part 3 of the Codes SEPP, which allows houses, alterations and additions and secondary dwellings to be approved as complying development against fixed standards.

Floor space ratio bonus

Under clause 4.4(2A) of Liverpool LEP 2008, an additional 0.05:1 (or 0.1:1 with lane access) available to secondary dwellings and certain attached housing in Areas 2 and 3 on the Floor Space Ratio Map.

Flood planning area

Land within the area to which clause 5.21 of Liverpool LEP 2008 applies, requiring flood compatibility and evacuation assessment before consent.

URBA prepares statements of environmental effects and pathway advice for secondary dwellings across the Liverpool local government area, including the growth precincts, testing the FSR arithmetic, the flood mapping and the Housing Code standards before a design is commissioned. See our town planner for Liverpool page and our secondary dwelling and granny flat planning service, or request a fee proposal for your lot.