Short answer: often yes. A secondary dwelling (the scheme's term for what most people call a granny flat) is one of the few residential builds on the Sunshine Coast that can go ahead as accepted development, meaning no development application, once it clears a short list of size and lot tests. What a general search misses is that the size cap is not one number: it changes with zone, and inside the Moffat Beach, Shelly Beach and Dicky Beach area it drops hard.
Under the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 ("SCPS 2014" below), a secondary dwelling is accepted development where it meets Schedule 6, Part 2 of the Planning Regulation 2017 and the council's accepted-development conditions (verified 3 July 2026). Accepted development still needs a building approval from a private certifier and a plumbing permit; only the development application step falls away.
The three numbers that decide the size cap
SCPS 2014's own secondary dwelling guidance sets the maximum gross floor area (GFA) by location, and it is not uniform across the Sunshine Coast (verified 3 July 2026):
| Location | Max GFA | Extra condition |
|---|---|---|
| Urban zone, on a regular lot of 600 m² or more | 60 m² | None beyond the general eligibility tests below |
| Rural zone or Rural residential zone | 90 m² | None specified beyond the accepted development pathway |
| Moffat Beach, Shelly Beach and Dicky Beach | 45 m² | Building height capped at 4 m |
The 60 m² figure only applies where the lot itself is a "regular lot" of 600 m² or more, in an urban zone. That is a genuine eligibility floor, not a formality: the lot has to clear the 600 m² test first, before the floor plan is even drawn. Whether the same 600 m² floor also governs the 90 m² Rural and Rural residential figure is not stated in the general information here; it is read against the mapped zone and the Dwelling house code, not assumed.
The 45 m² figure is not a general coastal setback rule. It applies specifically inside Moffat Beach, Shelly Beach and Dicky Beach, the mapped Moffat Beach, Shelly Beach and Dicky Beach area, with the 4 m height cap alongside it. Other beachside suburbs sit outside this pocket rule and default to the general 60 m² cap (subject to the same lot tests), the kind of locality-specific trap that catches an owner assuming "coastal" means the smaller number everywhere near the water.
The eligibility test behind the 60 m² number
Clearing the GFA cap is not the whole test. Alongside Schedule 6, Part 2, the council's own accepted-development conditions look for a freestanding secondary dwelling to sit within 20 m of the primary dwelling, to share services and access with it, and for the site to provide one additional on-site car space (verified 3 July 2026). Worth noting: this accepted pathway is the same across the Low, Medium and High density residential zones. The cap changes between urban and rural zones, but across the three residential zones neither the cap nor the accepted pathway changes on this fact set.
Where a proposal does not clear these tests, over 60 m² on a standard lot, not within 20 m of the primary dwelling where freestanding, or on a lot short of the size floor, it falls outside Schedule 6, Part 2 and needs its own development application. Which assessment category that application lands in is a zone and design specific question this fact set does not resolve; it is read on the mapped zone, not assumed from the GFA shortfall alone.
What the flood overlay does, and does not do
Table 5.10.1 keeps the assessment category unchanged for a mapped flood and inundation area unless a use is specifically listed, and the only listed exceptions are low impact industry, rural industry, service industry, transport depot and warehouse (verified 8 July 2026). None is a residential use, so a secondary dwelling does not change category from flood mapping alone, though the Flood hazard overlay code becomes an added benchmark once the proposal is otherwise assessable. Mapped land is not the only land the scheme tests, though. Its own words, footnote 12 to Table 5.10.1 (verified 8 July 2026):
"Other areas not identified by the flood hazard overlay may also be subject to the defined flood event (DFE) or defined storm tide event (DSTE). Development occurring in such areas will also be assessable against the Flood hazard overlay code."
So a lot with no flood mapping is not automatically clear of the flood code either. Where flood bites hardest is earthworks: filling that cumulatively exceeds 50 m³, or physical work altering a waterway or floodway, becomes separately code assessable regardless of the building above it, though a small footprint like a secondary dwelling may or may not reach that trigger; whether a given build does is a design and site question. SCPS 2014 lists roughly twenty overlays; beyond flood, the others (bushfire, biodiversity, coastal hazard, acid sulfate soils and more) are not confirmed here against a typed assessment table and need reading against the specific parcel before relying on them.
If a secondary dwelling does not fit, dual occupancy is a different pathway, not a bigger version of the same one
Where the household wants two full, separately marketable dwellings rather than a subordinate second dwelling, or the lot does not clear the secondary dwelling's tests, a dual occupancy (duplex) is the pathway to compare, not the same pathway scaled up. In the Low density residential zone, a dual occupancy is accepted development provided the site sits outside Precinct LDR1 (Protected Housing Area), is at least 800 m² exclusive of any access strip, does not adjoin another dual occupancy lot, and has a slope of 15 per cent or less (Dual occupancy code 9.3.5, AO1.2; verified 3 July 2026). In the Medium density zone, a dual occupancy is likewise accepted development, needing a minimum 15 m frontage. In the High density zone, dual occupancy is not a listed use at all and falls to Impact assessment, the reverse of the two lower-intensity zones, and the opposite shape to a secondary dwelling, whose accepted pathway does not change across the three residential zones on this fact set. The two products also sit on different lot-size floors, 600 m² for a secondary dwelling against 800 m² exclusive of access strip for a Low density dual occupancy, so a lot too small for a duplex can still suit a granny flat.
The titling outcome is different again, and it is the distinction that matters most to an owner thinking about future sale. A secondary dwelling is not separately saleable; it stays with the house on one title. A dual occupancy can generally be built-format titled, so the two dwellings sell separately while the land stays one lot, a titling step that is its own process your solicitor or town planner advises on.
How to check your own block
- Confirm which residential or rural zone the land sits in, and check whether it sits inside a declared Priority Development Area (Caloundra South/Aura, the Maroochydore City Centre or the Sunshine Coast Airport precinct), where SCPS 2014 does not apply.
- Measure the lot against the right cap: a regular lot of 600 m² or more in an urban zone for 60 m², the Rural or Rural residential mapping for 90 m², or the mapped Moffat Beach, Shelly Beach or Dicky Beach area for 45 m² and the 4 m height limit.
- If freestanding, check the 20 m distance to the primary dwelling, shared services and access, and the extra car space, then check the flood and other overlay maps against the parcel regardless of category.
This page is general information about the Sunshine Coast 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, the mapped lot size and locality, 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 Sunshine Coast planning and zoning guide, or see how the numbers compare if you are weighing subdivision instead in Can I subdivide my land on the Sunshine Coast?
Sources: Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 (the council's official published scheme), including the Dwelling house code, the council's Secondary Dwelling information sheet (September 2023), Schedule 6 Part 2 of the Planning Regulation 2017, the Dual occupancy code (9.3.5) and Table 5.10.1. 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 Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 (Major Amendment 27, effective 23 January 2024); schemes amend, and the live scheme prevails.