Short answer: yes, often without a development application at all, but the Scenic Rim's no-DA pathway for a secondary dwelling (the scheme's term for a granny flat) comes with five conditions that all have to be met together, and an overlay on your specific lot, flood being the clearest example, can remove that pathway regardless of the design.
The accepted (no development application) pathway
In the Low Density Residential and Low-Medium Density Residential zones, a secondary dwelling is accepted development, subject to requirements, under the Dwelling House Code 9.3.5 of the Scenic Rim Planning Scheme 2020, where all of the code's acceptable outcomes are met. The scheme's own words (Dwelling House Code 9.3.5, AO4, verified 3 July 2026):
"The secondary dwelling: has a gross floor area not exceeding 60m2; where established on a site where access to the reticulated sewerage network is unavailable, can dispose of wastewater on-site by connection to the wastewater disposal system of the primary dwelling; is provided with a minimum of one off-street car parking space in addition to the requirement for the primary dwelling; is located within 20 metres of the outermost projection of the primary dwelling; and is connected to the same water and electricity supply as the primary dwelling."
Five conditions, all at once: a gross floor area capped at 60 m², a location within 20 m of the outermost projection of the primary dwelling (measured from the building itself, not the boundary or the block generally), one additional off-street car space on top of whatever the primary dwelling already needs, the same water and electricity connection as the primary dwelling, and, where the site has no access to the reticulated sewerage network, wastewater disposed of on-site by connection to the primary dwelling's own system. The servicing conditions carry particular weight in the Scenic Rim: large parts of the shire have no reticulated sewer or water, and the scheme's answer is express, the granny flat plugs into the arrangements that already serve the house rather than getting its own set up.
Where the pathway falls to code assessment
If any one of the conditions above is not met, the proposal is code assessable instead: a real application decided against the scheme's technical benchmarks rather than through public notification, not a refusal. Within that application, a design that misses an acceptable outcome can still be approved by demonstrating compliance with the corresponding performance outcome, and that argument is a town planner's territory, not a checklist.
An overlay on the lot can produce the same result regardless of how the secondary dwelling is designed. Where the land is mapped in the Flood Hazard Overlay (Map OM-06-A), Table 5.10.1 of the scheme sets no residential concession: a residential Material Change of Use on that land, which a secondary dwelling is, is code assessable against the Flood Hazard Overlay Code, not accepted, whatever the design (Table 5.10.1, verified 8 July 2026). This is a different answer to the scheme's other main overlay affecting dwellings: in the Landslide Hazard and Steep Slope Overlay's 15.1 to 25% slope band, a dwelling house (the scheme's own Schedule 1 definition includes a secondary dwelling within the dwelling house use) can still be accepted subject to requirements. Flood removes the no-DA pathway outright; steep slope, in that verified band, does not. Other overlays (bushfire, agricultural land, environmental significance, extractive resources) can also apply and must be read from the current scheme mapping for the parcel; no category call is made on them here. Which overlays actually touch your lot, and at what tier, is read from the current scheme map for the parcel, not assumed from the zone.
If a granny flat does not fit, dual occupancy is a different pathway, not a fallback route to the same outcome
Where the block cannot support a secondary dwelling under the conditions above, or the household wants two full dwellings rather than a subordinate one, a dual occupancy runs on its own rules under the Dual Occupancy Code 9.3.4. The accepted, no-DA pathway there is narrower still: it applies only on a lot of at least 800 m² that is also a corner lot, with each dwelling accessing a separate constructed road, and only where no overlay lifts the assessment level, flood being the same disqualifier here, since a residential use on Flood Hazard Overlay land has no accepted concession in Table 5.10.1 either. Outside those conditions, a dual occupancy is code assessable, and once it is, a 50 m dispersion rule (Table 9.3.4.3.2, added by Amendment No. 3, commenced 30 June 2023) stops a non-corner-lot dual occupancy in the residential zones sitting within 50 m of another dual occupancy on the same side of the street; that rule gates the code pathway only, not the accepted one. A granny flat and a dual occupancy are not interchangeable answers to "can I add a dwelling": one is a smaller, subordinate structure sharing services with the house, the other is two full dwellings on their own footing, and the conditions that unlock each are different sets of numbers.
What a granny flat can be, and what it cannot
A secondary dwelling is not separately saleable. It stays on the one title with the primary dwelling; it can be rented out, but it cannot be sold or titled apart from the house it shares services with. A dual occupancy, by contrast, can be sold as two separate dwellings through a Building Format Plan community title process, its own step a solicitor or planner advises on. If the goal is a second dwelling that can eventually be sold on its own title, a secondary dwelling is not that pathway regardless of how the numbers on your block work out.
How to check your own block
- Confirm your zone. The accepted pathway for a secondary dwelling applies in the Low Density Residential and Low-Medium Density Residential zones; other zones follow different rules.
- Check the five conditions against your actual site plan: the 60 m² gross floor area cap, the 20 m distance from the outermost projection of the primary dwelling, the extra off-street car space, the shared water and electricity connection, and, on unsewered land, wastewater connection to the primary dwelling's system.
- Check the Flood Hazard Overlay map (OM-06-A) and the Landslide Hazard and Steep Slope Overlay map (OM-07-A) against the parcel. Either can change the assessment category, and they do not work the same way.
This page is general information about the Scenic Rim planning scheme, not advice about your property. Overlay effects vary lot by lot, planning schemes amend, and the council's current scheme prevails. Do not rely on this page for a specific property. Get a site-specific report or independent professional advice before acting. We work with town planners, not in place of them: where a pathway depends on design or professional judgement, a town planner or the relevant qualified professional confirms it for your specific proposal.
Want the answer for your block? Our $690 site-specific report reads the zone, every overlay mapped on the property and the surviving development pathways for one property, with every figure cited to the scheme. Not ready for that? Start with the free development risk checklist, read our Scenic Rim planning and zoning guide, or check the sibling question, can I subdivide my land in the Scenic Rim.
Sources: Scenic Rim Planning Scheme 2020 (the council's ePlan), including the Dwelling House Code (9.3.5), the Dual Occupancy Code (9.3.4) and Table 5.10.1 (Overlays); the council's Dwelling Houses and Secondary Dwellings fact sheet and Dual Occupancy fact sheet (both June 2023, named here as they sit behind a link the council's own server blocks to automated requests). Everything on this page comes from the council's own published planning scheme; we explain it in plain English. The scheme text itself is the authority.
Published by LandIntel. How we research: our methodology.
Verified 3 to 8 July 2026 against the Scenic Rim Planning Scheme 2020 (version 30 June 2023, Amendments 1-5 and 7); schemes amend, and the live scheme prevails.