Updating the definitions of “ancillary accommodation” and “student accommodation” in the Planning and Design Code

Consultation has concluded, thank you for your contributions.


We want your feedback on the proposed changes to the definitions of “ancillary accommodation” and “student accommodation” in the Planning and Design Code.

What's being decided?

To help provide a more diverse range of housing options for South Australians, we are proposing to change the existing Planning and Design Code definitions for “ancillary accommodation” and “student accommodation”.

The changes are a response to the state’s current housing crisis and will allow more flexibility to provide smaller housing choices for the South Australian community.

Background

The Planning and Design Code contains the planning rules and policies that guide what can be developed in South Australia. Sometimes the Code is amended to better serve the community.

The proposed amendments to the definitions for “ancillary accommodation” and “student accommodation” will allow these forms of housing to be self-contained. This means they can have their own bathroom/kitchen/laundry.

Other aspects of the definitions will remain unchanged, which means that ancillary accommodation must still be subordinate to a main dwelling with floor area limitations. Student accommodation must still incorporate common facilities for shared use by students.

The proposed changes will facilitate the development of self-contained accommodation, potentially resulting in higher availability of suitable housing for South Australians.

Note: The draft Code Amendment will come into effect on an interim basis on the same day as it is released for public consultation, known as ‘early commencement’. For more information on early commencement, see our FAQs.

Get involved

Find out more:

Have your say by:

  • taking our survey
  • emailing planSAsubmissions@sa.gov.au
  • posting your submission to:
    Submission: Ancillary and student accommodation definition Code Amendment
    State Planning Commission
    Department for Trade and Investment
    GPO Box 1815, ADELAIDE SA 5001

You can access hard copies of the draft Code Amendment during standard business hours at Level 9, 83 Pirie Street, ADELAIDE SA 5000.

What are the next steps?

We will consider all feedback and prepare an Engagement Report for the Minister’s decision. The report will be published on this and the PlanSA website, along with the outcome of the Code Amendment and any further updates.

Your views will help us to update the land use definitions to reflect current housing needs in South Australia.


We want your feedback on the proposed changes to the definitions of “ancillary accommodation” and “student accommodation” in the Planning and Design Code.

What's being decided?

To help provide a more diverse range of housing options for South Australians, we are proposing to change the existing Planning and Design Code definitions for “ancillary accommodation” and “student accommodation”.

The changes are a response to the state’s current housing crisis and will allow more flexibility to provide smaller housing choices for the South Australian community.

Background

The Planning and Design Code contains the planning rules and policies that guide what can be developed in South Australia. Sometimes the Code is amended to better serve the community.

The proposed amendments to the definitions for “ancillary accommodation” and “student accommodation” will allow these forms of housing to be self-contained. This means they can have their own bathroom/kitchen/laundry.

Other aspects of the definitions will remain unchanged, which means that ancillary accommodation must still be subordinate to a main dwelling with floor area limitations. Student accommodation must still incorporate common facilities for shared use by students.

The proposed changes will facilitate the development of self-contained accommodation, potentially resulting in higher availability of suitable housing for South Australians.

Note: The draft Code Amendment will come into effect on an interim basis on the same day as it is released for public consultation, known as ‘early commencement’. For more information on early commencement, see our FAQs.

Get involved

Find out more:

Have your say by:

  • taking our survey
  • emailing planSAsubmissions@sa.gov.au
  • posting your submission to:
    Submission: Ancillary and student accommodation definition Code Amendment
    State Planning Commission
    Department for Trade and Investment
    GPO Box 1815, ADELAIDE SA 5001

You can access hard copies of the draft Code Amendment during standard business hours at Level 9, 83 Pirie Street, ADELAIDE SA 5000.

What are the next steps?

We will consider all feedback and prepare an Engagement Report for the Minister’s decision. The report will be published on this and the PlanSA website, along with the outcome of the Code Amendment and any further updates.

Your views will help us to update the land use definitions to reflect current housing needs in South Australia.

Consultation has concluded, thank you for your contributions.

  • Code Amendment finalised

    The Ancillary Accommodation and Student Accommodation Definitions Review Code Amendment has now been finalised and adopted by the Minister for Planning.

    We listened to your feedback and incorporated the following key changes to the code amendment in response:

    • We increased the maximum floor area criteria for ancillary accommodation from 60 to 70 square metres to support living amenity
    • We removed the part of the definition of ancillary accommodation relating to utilities and included it within the related policy instead, thereby enabling assessment of utilities connection to be undertaken on a discretionary basis by the relevant authority
    • We included a new policy for ancillary accommodation specifying that the primary dwelling’s private open space is accessible to all occupiers of the site; this will ensure that ancillary accommodation has access to private open space and will further reinforce that ancillary accommodation is not a separate dwelling
    • We referred to a ‘site’ instead of an ‘allotment’ in the definition of ancillary accommodation, consistent with other definitions.

    View the full engagement report for more information about what we heard and how community feedback influenced the final code amendment.

    Thank you to everyone who submitted their feedback.