FAQs
Do you have a question? Check out our Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
General
One type of town planning is commonly associated with applying for land use approvals through a local Council. This is also known as development assessment. Examples include houses, townhouses, units, apartments, subdivisions, commercial and industrial land uses. The process is to prepare a development application (the DA) and seek Council approval to establish a new land use.
A DA is a development application and can also mean a development approval. Council’s issue development approvals for land uses and developments.
The timing involved in a development application can vary. All applications are subject to standard processes and statutory timeframes that are set by the Planning Act. As a guide a code assessment application may take approximately 3 months from lodgement. An impact assessment application is more likely to be 6 months. Receiving an information request from Council will add further time to an assessment. Similarly, complex applications will require more time to be assessed by Council.
A code assessment development application is assessed against a stated set of codes in a planning scheme. If the proposal complies with all acceptable outcomes in the codes, it is highly likely that Council will approve the land use. Council will almost always make an approval subject to conditions and approved plans.
An impact assessment development application is assessed against both a stated set of codes and the whole planning scheme. Impact assessment applications are more complex and require more issues to be carefully assessed. As the name suggest, the Council is assessing the potential impacts of a development proposal. Impact assessment applications must undergo public notifciation for 15 business days and the public can make submissions. Third party appeal rights apply to people who make properly made submissions.
Subdivision
Subdivision is a form of development where a property, or block of land, is subdivided into smaller blocks. This may be a simple subdivision where one lot is divided into two, or it may be a large subdivision where one lot is subdivided into 500 lots. A very common subdivision in urban areas is known as a 1 into 2 lot subdivision.
A splitter is a type of subdivision where a property is made up of two allotments on one title. It’s very common in areas such as Brisbane to have properties with two lots and the house will sit over the middle boundary. The “splitter” name comes from the action of splitting the title, where a request is made to the State Titles Office to split the existing title into two titles. This allows the owner to then sell each lot separately. In many cases water and sewer services are connected to one of the lots before being offered for sale. A splitter will generally cost less than a full subdivision as a town planning approval is not required and other charges such as infrastructure charges do not apply.
The cost of a subdivision will vary depending on the size and number of lots and where you are developing. In Brisbane, you should be budgeting a minimum of $130,000 for a simple 2-lot subdivision. The costs can be much higher depending on the site, what urban services are needed and whether you are constructing driveways and stormwater infrastructure. This cost does not include demolition of an existing house, which will start from $35,000.
The time it takes to complete a subdivision will vary. For your first project, we recommend allowing 12 months from start to finish. This is a realistic timeframe and allows for project slippage and delays that may not be within your control. For more experienced developers, the timing can be compressed to approximately 8-10 months and requires all projects elements to be delivered without any delay in between.
Planning Terms and Acronyms
DA: Development application or development approval
MCU: Material Change of Use.
Commonly associated with establishing a new land use or increasing the scale or intensity of an existing land use. An example of a new land use is seeking approval for a townhouse development or shop. An example of a change in use is increasing the size of a commercial premises or factory.
ROL: Reconfiguring a Lot.
This is also known as subdivision and can involve both land and buildings.
BW: Building works
Can be associated with both town planning applications and buildings works undertaken under the Building Code of Australia
QDC: Queensland Development Code
This is the code that provides a guide and regulations for the design and construction of houses in Queensland. The QDC includes elements such as setbacks, height, site cover and parking.
GFA: Gross Floor Area
This is the floor area of a building and is used by Council’s as part of the development assessment process. In most Queensland planning schemes GFA has a specific legal definition. Some parts of a building will be exempt from being considered GFA, e.g. basements, parking areas, building services, plant or equipment area.
Development, uses or building work that is identifed as this category do not require a town planning approval and do not need to be assessed against the planning scheme. The use or work can simply be undertaken. Examples include 1 shed (maximum roofed area 10m2 and maximum height 3m) on a small lot or a pool.
This is a land use or development that will not require a town planning approval in a certain zone. An example is a house on a standard lot in the Low Density Zone.
This is a land use or development that can be established without a town planning approval if it meets certain requirements in a stated code. An example is in Brisbane a house on a small lot will need to comply with the Dwelling house (small lot) code.
A code assessment development application is assessed against a stated set of codes in a planning scheme. If the proposal complies with all acceptable outcomes in the codes, it is highly likely that Council will approve the land use. Council will almost always make an approval subject to conditions and approved plans.
An impact assessment development application is assessed against both a stated set of codes and the whole planning scheme. Impact assessment applications are more complex and require more issues to be carefully assessed. As the name suggests, the Council is assessing the potential impacts of a development proposal. Impact assessment applications also require public notification. As part of this process, people who make a properly made submission about an application have third party appeal rights.
