‘Profiteering’ granny flat developers hit with $10k fee

DEVELOPERS are thinking twice about building rentable granny flats after a $10,000 charge was introduced.

Cr Jon Raven speaks with a resident of a dual-occupancy property in Division 5.

A CARROT and stick approach to small-lot property development has paid off for Logan City Council.

A $10,000 infrastructure charge, introduced on July 1, has curbed the number of auxiliary units being built.

Developers escaped a higher charge of $23,000 which the council had proposed in October last year.

The council was also forced to loosen a proposal to hit auxiliary unit developers with a tough minimum lot size of 700 sqm and minimum street frontage of 18m.

After the state government refused to allow those amendments to the Logan Planning Scheme 2015 in February, council introduced a minimum lot size of 450 sqm and minimum frontage of 15m, along with the $10,000 charge.

A typical auxiliary unit lot has two letterboxes and carports.

Cr Jon Raven said the infrastructure charge had choked the tidal wave of development opportunism.

“Hopefully, we will see a more even spread of these throughout the city … and better design as the state government approves our changes,” he said.

In June, there were 113 auxiliary unit applications, which dropped to 30 in July, a mere seven in August and five in September.

That figure rose again to 17 last month, when council said it had collected $7.162 million in infrastructure charges.

For the entire financial year, revenue from infrastructure charges was calculated at $22,850,118.09.

Cr Darren Power said he believed the council needed to wield greater control over second dwellings and introduce a higher charge “so the situation doesn’t get out of control again”.

“We have to be mindful of the growth of the overall city and if we don’t have revenue coming in for each dwelling, all these new families will be putting pressure on the existing infrastructure — particularly our parks and recreational facilities.

“We need that money coming in to keep up with these developments.”

Council’s Economic Development chairman Russell Lutton said council refusing to relax “setbacks” or restrictions on auxiliary unit developers would also curb any profiteering or abuse.

When the Logan Planning Scheme was being drafted in 2014, auxiliary units were referred to as “dual keys” and were designed to provide accommodation for family members.