What changed on 15 October 2026
Amendment VC306 was gazetted and came into operation on 15 October 2026. Its approved Clause 73.03 defines a small second dwelling as a building, or part of a building, with a total floor area not exceeding 80 square metres, on the same lot as an existing dwelling and used as a self-contained residence with a kitchen sink, food preparation facilities, a bath or shower, and a toilet and wash basin. Under VC253, from 14 December 2023 until VC306, the figure was 60 m²; VC282 changed Clause 54 for small residential lots in September 2025. Those earlier instruments do not make 60 m² today’s planning limit.
Total floor area includes every floor used as the residence and is measured from the outside surface of the external walls, or the centre of a party wall. Attached or abutting unroofed patios, pergolas, porches and terraces, and roofed decks, verandahs and other roofed structures, are not counted. Have the proposed design measured under that definition; do not substitute a marketing size, an internal room total or an earlier council fact sheet.
The VC306 explanatory report records the deletion of Clause 54.03-5, the planning safety-and-accessibility standard for small second dwellings, and a new permit requirement for movable units and movable buildings in five hazard overlays. Planning Victoria separates this update from amendments still to follow in the Building Regulations 2018 and Minister’s Guideline MG-12. Deleting a planning standard does not establish that the building access path, siting requirements or the Livable Housing Design Standard have disappeared.
The site still decides the planning pathway
In the General Residential Zone, Clause 32.08 makes a small second dwelling a use that needs no permit when no more than one dwelling exists on the lot, it is the only small second dwelling on the lot and reticulated natural gas is not supplied to it. If one of those conditions is not met, the same table lists the use as prohibited, so gas or a second small second dwelling is not a permit question. Clause 32.08-6 separately requires a permit to construct or extend a small second dwelling on a lot of less than 300 m². Planning Victoria’s guide also lists Rural Conservation, Green Wedge and Green Wedge A zones, specified rural earthworks or setbacks, and requirements elsewhere in the scheme. Check the zone and its schedule, not just the lot size.
A 300 m² figure is therefore a planning trigger for certain proposals, not a promise that every larger lot is exempt. Other zones have their own permissions. The council should confirm the planning position for the address and proposed design; a published product price does not answer that question.
Overlays, trees and title restrictions remain separate checks
Planning Victoria says overlays can require a permit or impose other requirements. Its current guide identifies an exemption in Heritage, Design and Development, and Neighbourhood Character overlays where the small second dwelling stays within 5 metres in height and uses muted finishes. That is not a blanket exemption from every overlay or from unrelated work on the site.
The same guide flags canopy-tree controls, section 173 agreements and restrictive covenants. A small dwelling does not cancel those restrictions. Obtain the title information and the current council scheme before committing to a siting arrangement or removing a tree.
Building approval: what the current announcement does and does not establish
A building permit is always required, including when no planning permit is needed. The Building Regulations 2018, authorised version 031 (in force from 1 September 2026 and still the current version on 21 October 2026), define a small second dwelling in regulation 5(1) as a self-contained Class 1a building of no more than 60 m² gross floor area, and the related siting and access-path regulations (74A, 86A, 86B) are written for that definition. A design between 60 and 80 m² can therefore meet the planning definition without meeting the building one: a registered building surveyor confirms the building pathway before the design is fixed. The official guide also directs owners to consider the NCC Livable Housing Design Standard early.
Historical building note — source snapshot checked 19 September 2026: the earlier article described Class 1a approval, the 2023 small-second-dwelling building amendments, siting regulations, fire separation, energy assessment and wastewater evidence. These remain useful questions for the surveyor, but this October planning refresh has not re-read or certified those individual instruments. The companion design brief retains its detailed table with that date made explicit.
Parking, subdivision, tenancy and services
The current Planning Victoria guide says a small second dwelling does not need a car space and cannot be subdivided onto a separate lot. It also says anyone may live in or rent it, with residential rental laws and minimum standards applying. Confirm the dwelling’s classification and compliance before applying those statements to a proposal.
Services are a separate project workstream. The guide directs owners to ask utility providers about sharing existing connections and any fees. Earlier gas-connection and tenancy-metering notes in this article’s source register were checked in September, not re-verified here; confirm the applicable scheme conditions, supply arrangements and tenancy obligations for the project.
How the current DollarBuild catalogue should be assessed
Compact 34 uses the Fernwood 34.3 m² one-bedroom, one-bathroom drawing. Home 60 offers supplied two- or three-bedroom, one-bathroom plans. Both categories have 2.4 m clear ceilings. The 80 m² range has supplied two- or three-bedroom, two-bathroom layouts and 2.7 m ceilings; Premium uses the same supplied geometry, and the garage offer has its own two-bedroom plan with a nominal 20 m² enclosed garage.
Under VC306 an 80 m² name is no longer outside the planning definition, but it does not prove that a design, garage or site meets it. Home 60’s drawings label 59.79 m² and 59.59 m² and Home 80’s 78.39 m²; either can use the no-permit planning pathway when its measured total floor area is 80 m² or less and the lot and title qualify, while anything over 60 m² needs the building surveyor’s pathway. The garage drawing reports 102.58 m² including a 20.93 m² enclosed garage; Clause 73.03’s exclusions do not mention a garage, so the council confirms how it is treated. The nine-room rooming house is a separate planning and operating proposition.
Use the granny flat building guide to compare current state prices and documents, and the 60 or 80 m² comparison for the size decision, then obtain a written address-specific project scope. Product visualisations and published prices are separate from issued approvals.
Questions people ask
Do I need a planning permit for a granny flat in Victoria?
It depends on the zone, lot and design. Since VC306 (15 October 2026), Clause 73.03 allows a small second dwelling of up to 80 m² total floor area. In the General Residential Zone no permit is needed on a lot of 300 m² or more with one existing dwelling, no other small second dwelling and no reticulated gas, unless an overlay or title restriction says otherwise. A building permit is always needed.
Is 300 m² the minimum lot size?
The official guide identifies lots below 300 m² in residential zones as a planning-permit trigger. It is not a universal minimum lot size, and being above it does not remove other zone, overlay, title or tree constraints.
Is the 80 m² planning area the same as internal floor area?
No. Clause 73.03 counts every floor used as the residence, measured from the outside surface of the external walls or the centre of a party wall, and excludes attached or abutting decks, verandahs, pergolas, porches, patios and terraces. Internal room areas add up to less than that figure. Ask the designer to show the measured total on the drawing.
Did VC306 remove every access-path rule?
No. VC306 deleted Clause 54.03-5, the planning safety-and-accessibility standard for small second dwellings. The Building Regulations 2018 (version 031) still contain the small-second-dwelling access-path regulation, reg 86B, for buildings within the 60 m² building definition, and the official guide points to the NCC Livable Housing Design Standard. Have the building surveyor confirm the access requirements for the actual design.
Can I rent it to anyone or sell it separately?
Planning Victoria says there is no restriction on who may live in a small second dwelling, and rental minimum standards apply if it is rented. The dwelling cannot be subdivided onto a separate lot. Those statements do not replace approval or tenancy checks for a specific property.
What if my land has an overlay?
Check the actual overlay provisions. The current official guide notes a limited exemption for small second dwellings up to 5 metres high in muted finishes in Heritage, Design and Development, and Neighbourhood Character overlays; other triggers or works may still need permission.
Is Home 80 now automatically approved?
No. Home 80’s supplied drawing labels 78.39 m², so it can use the no-permit planning pathway only when the measured outside-of-walls total is 80 m² or less and the zone, lot, overlays and title qualify. Because it is above the 60 m² building definition still in force, the building surveyor confirms its building pathway. A catalogue name is not a planning decision or a building permit.
References
- 1.Amendment VC306 — approved Clause 73.03 Land use terms (small second dwelling: total floor area not exceeding 80 m²; measurement) — clause dated 15 October 2026; checked 21 October 2026
- 2.Amendment VC306 — approved Clause 32.08 General Residential Zone (Section 1 conditions, Section 3, Clause 32.08-6 lots under 300 m²) — checked 21 October 2026
- 3.Amendment VC306 — explanatory report (60 to 80 m², measurement clarified, Clause 54.03-5 deleted) — checked 21 October 2026
- 4.Planning Schemes portal — Amendment VC306 (gazetted, operative 15 October 2026) — status checked 20 October 2026
- 5.Building Regulations 2018 (Vic) — authorised version 031, reg 5(1) small second dwelling definition (60 m²) — in force from 1 September 2026; current version on 21 October 2026, checked that day
- 6.Planning Victoria — Small second homes, VC306 update effective 15 October 2026 — page updated 15 October 2026; VC306 announcement and current planning summary checked 17 October 2026; earlier building sources retain their recorded dates
- 7.Planning Victoria — Small second homes (official guidance) — checked 19 September 2026
- 8.Victoria Planning Provisions — Clause 73.03 as read before VC306 (historical 60 m² definition, ordinance viewer) — ordinance text read 19 September 2026; superseded by VC306 on 15 October 2026
- 9.Victoria Planning Provisions — Clause 32.08-6 Construction and extension of a small second dwelling on a lot (the 300 m² trigger) — ordinance text read 19 September 2026
- 10.Victoria Planning Provisions — Clause 54 One dwelling on a lot or a small second dwelling on a lot — ordinance text read 19 September 2026
- 11.Victoria Planning Provisions — Clause 43.01-3 Heritage Overlay, no permit required (small second dwelling ≤ 5 m, muted tones) — ordinance text read 19 September 2026
- 12.Victoria Government Gazette S677, 14 December 2023 — Amendment VC253 — operative date
- 13.Victoria Government Gazette S414, 11 August 2025 — Amendment VC282 (operative 8 September 2025; 300 m² construction trigger and Clause 54) — checked 19 September 2026
- 14.Building Amendment (Small Second Dwellings) Regulations 2023 (SR 132/2023) — commenced 14 December 2023
- 15.Building Regulations 2018 (Vic) — siting provisions regs 74A, 76, 77, 79, 86A, 86B — in-force version
- 16.Building and Plumbing Commission — Small second dwelling (building permit required; no separate sale) — checked 19 September 2026
- 17.Building practice note SI-03 — Small second dwellings (current 26 July 2024) — siting practice note
- 18.Planning Victoria — Building in the Bushfire Management Overlay (Clause 44.06, Clause 53.02) — checked 19 September 2026
- 19.EPA Victoria — A20 on-site wastewater management systems permit — unsewered lots
- 20.Residential Tenancies Act 1997 (Vic) — ss 52, 53 (utility charges and separate metering) — in-force version
- 21.NCC 2022 Volume Two — Housing Provisions Part 9.2 fire separation of external walls — Class 1a separation distances
