Creating new opportunities for affordable housing in South Australia

Like all states and territories in Australia, South Australia is facing a shortage of affordable housing for both rent and purchase. And with a rapid increase in single person households, the community needs a diverse range of housing that can cater to smaller household sizes.

What can be done?

With the launch of the new Housing Roadmap, we know that the government is expediting the planning process, directly delivering new housing, tackling infrastructure challenges, and bolstering skills in the construction and planning systems.

But how can we care for those who can’t afford to build or buy a new home and need to find somewhere to rent right now? To find innovative, respectful, and expedient ways to get people into more homes, we need to think outside the housing box.

Not just for grannies anymore

Could the humble granny flat, once reserved for ageing relatives or teenaged children seeking a bit of independence from the family home, be part of the solution?

Recent legislative and policy changes are making it easier to build and rent or lease smaller, secondary accommodation like granny flats or tiny homes, otherwise known as “ancillary accommodation”, in a bid to help ease the effects of the housing shortage.

In the past, some planning authorities (mostly in local government) placed restrictions on who can occupy granny flats as a condition of planning consent. The idea was to make sure that the residents of the main home could only rent their granny flat to a family member.

Over time, we saw that this approach is no longer aligned with the needs and expectations of the community. In response, the State Planning Commission brought new rules into effect late last year to ensure that granny flats can be rented to anyone.

As a result, more granny flats are now available to be offered to the broader rental market. And homeowners who can rent out their granny flats are able to supplement their income and help relieve the rising cost of living.

When it comes to building ancillary accommodation, it’s worth bearing in mind that structures such as tiny homes, caravans/tiny homes on wheels, modular studios or demountables still need planning and building approval (PDF, 871 KB) to ensure occupants enjoy a safe place to live in harmony, considering proximity to neighbours.

Establishing new levels of independent living

Until recently, a major concern for those considering ancillary accommodation was the lack of independent living. Under the previous code, granny flats could not be self-contained, meaning they were required to share utilities with the main house.

It’s difficult to live independently without access to your own kitchen, bathroom, or laundry. Many people would not consider living in this type of housing.

To address the problem, the Chief Executive recently initiated another significant reform to make it easier to build self-contained secondary housing - this time a change to the definition of “ancillary accommodation” in the Planning and Design Code.

The changes mean that granny flats no longer have to share kitchens, bathrooms and laundries with the main house, allowing tenants to live independently in a truly self-contained space.

During consultation, the community response was overwhelmingly positive. People living all over South Australia, in all different walks of life, shared their feedback and a real sense of positivity about what the changes mean to them.

With no time to waste in making more self-contained accommodation available, the code amendment came into effect immediately. This means that people seeking to build self-contained granny flats could streamline the building and development process straight away, and with the appropriate approvals (PDF, 871 KB), caravans, tiny homes, and other ancillary structures can be used as a living space.

And in response to feedback from the community, the Minister for Housing and Urban Development las month increased the maximum floor area in ancillary dwellings from 60 to 70 square metres, helping make these housing options more accessible and amenable.

Creating equal rights for all tenants

In the past, renter’s rights didn’t apply to people living in granny flats, and this is a real concern for anyone considering this type of housing. So late last year, the South Australian Parliament passed a bill to ensure that tenants residing in granny flats are protected and afforded property use rights. This means that people renting ancillary accommodation now have the same rights as tenants in other forms of housing.

And these rights have been recently boosted, with new laws ensuring that renters will be protected from too-frequent rent increases, will pay more affordable rental bonds, and will benefit from a raft of other positive changes. This will help people living in ancillary accommodation to feel more confident and secure in their choice of housing.

Designing new ways of living together

We are constantly working on new ideas to increase housing diversity and create ways to affordably house more South Australians. Most recently, the Commission initiated a proposed change to the Planning and Design code that would provide new housing options for smaller household types and create opportunities for co-living and ageing in place.

This proposed change is called the Future Living Code Amendment, and it aims to protect and maintain heritage values and streetscapes, while allowing for the construction of additional small homes on a property. The result is increased housing density on a single block, with areas of shared space.

Currently the proposed amendment would apply to certain residential areas within the Cities of Unley, Campbelltown, Burnside, and Prospect, the Town of Walkerville and Alexandrina Council, all of whom agreed to consult the community on the idea. We’ve now collected the community’s vital feedback, and will soon publish a report detailing what we heard.

Moving forward with purpose

There’s no denying that we are living in a difficult time. Our state’s housing shortage is a challenging problem that requires creative thinking and speedy change-making, and we in the Commission are working hard to contribute to the solution.

Granny flats, co-living, tiny homes, caravans, and demountables are just one part of the puzzle. We must continue to generate ideas and initiatives to use the land and buildings available to us to increase housing supply and provide new planning options.