Tasmania Is Consulting on 90 m2 Secondary Residences

The Minister has issued Terms of Reference for draft amendment 01/2026 to Tasmania's State Planning Provisions, dealing with secondary residences of 90 square metres. The project commenced in February 2026 and is expected to complete in the second half of 2026.

For anyone considering a secondary residence, whether a granny flat, a unit for family or a rental on an existing title, this is the change to watch.

What it would apply to

The State Planning Provisions are the state-wide half of the Tasmanian Planning Scheme. The other half is each council's Local Provisions Schedule, which applies the zones and codes to actual land. An SPP amendment applies in council areas where the Tasmanian Planning Scheme is in effect, which is what gives it reach beyond a single municipality.

The important part: it is not in force

A draft amendment with Terms of Reference issued is exactly that, a draft moving through a process. It is not the law today, and designing to it now would be designing to something that may change before it lands.

This distinction matters more than it sounds. The same pattern appears in other states, where a reform is announced, reported widely, and then treated as operative months before it actually commences. If you are being told a 90 square metre secondary residence is currently allowed under the State Planning Provisions, that is running ahead of where the amendment is.

What governs a secondary residence today

Until the amendment is finalised the current provisions apply. Whether a secondary residence is permitted or discretionary on your land depends on the zone in your council's Local Provisions Schedule and on the standards that apply to it.

That permitted versus discretionary distinction is the one that decides your experience. Meeting every Acceptable Solution can keep an application permitted. Relying on a Performance Criterion moves it to discretionary, which brings advertising, third-party representations and appeal rights with it. That is weeks of programme and genuine outcome risk, not a procedural formality.

The codes apply regardless

Bushfire-prone land, landslip, coastal and heritage codes apply independently of the zone and frequently drive both the assessment and the consultant spend. On a bushfire-prone site the hazard report and construction requirements will affect the build cost of a secondary residence materially, whatever the floor area rules end up saying.

Our free property snapshot returns the zone and applicable codes for a Tasmanian address, and the TAS Planning Insight reads the standards governing that title for what you are proposing.