​Brisbane City Council Media Statement
August 30, 2016

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will implement new incentives to attract more inner suburban aged care facilities to meet the challenges of providing for an aging population and help secure the future of the city’s aging residents.

The new incentives include reducing development infrastructure charges by 33 per cent for a three year period similar to the successful measures that led to about 1,000 new hotel rooms and 5,000 new student accommodation beds in recent years.

An additional two storeys will be allowed in medium and high density locations where best practice design standards are met and Council will consider proposals in privately owned sport and recreation areas but only where a clear community benefit is incorporated into the facility.

Cr Quirk said the range of incentives included future amendments to City Plan 2014 that would offer a more streamlined approach to extending or upgrading existing aged care and retirement living, as well as providing greater opportunities and better design outcomes for new facilities.
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“The reality is we can’t just have our retirement villages and aged care facilities on the outskirts of the city – that’s not meeting the needs of our aging residents,” he said.

“It’s important that people should be able to retire and go into aged care in the areas they are familiar with, where they have their social structure and friendship, their shopping precincts and the medical and other professional services available to them.

“Many of our suburbs provide housing options for younger residents and families and we are looking to provide more accommodation options for our older local residents, so we are not left with the perverse situation where retirees do not have the facilities to stay in Brisbane.

“In the past six years there has been an average of less than 1,000 new aged care rooms and retirement units – over the next 12 years there is a forecast average annual increase of 3,600 persons that may require dedicated retirement or aged care accommodation.”

There were just 49 development approvals from 2010-2015 that delivered a combined 5,159 new aged care rooms, retirement units and aged care rooms. The current 70 plus population of Brisbane is 90,080 and projected to increase by 50 per cent to 2027.
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Cr Quirk said Council had already made planning changes to help aged residents stay in their neighbourhoods such as increasing the permitted size of granny flats, but would go further.

“There is a strategic and growing need for these facilities in our city to cater for an aging population. Revisions to the City Plan will include a new code specifically for assessing aged care and retirement living development applications, encouraging co-location with other uses such as churches and medical facilities and revising some levels of assessment,” he said.

“The industry will be expected to meet best practice design standards including stronger open space requirements and greater connectivity with the surrounding community.
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“These new incentives will allow Brisbane residents to remain in accommodation that is accessible to public transport, shops, healthcare and family.”

We thought we would put together a quick easy to read guide for whats happening Australia wide as part of the Granny Flat Revolution!

Sonia Woolley
11 February 2016

Governed by State Legislation
60m2 Dwelling – 450m2 min. land size
Can be rented out as investments

Governed by State Legislation
Called Ancillary Dwellings
60m2 – 70m2, 2 bedroom – 450m2 min land size
Can be rented out as investments

Governed by State Legislation
(DPU) Dependant Person Units
m2 Currently being done
Cannot be rented out as investments

Governed by each Local City Council (LGA)
Some Councils call them Secondary Dwellings; Auxiliary Dwellings; Granny Flats
Ipswich : 50m2 – no minimum land size
Logan : 70m2, 2 bedroom – land up to 999m2
Logan : 100m2, 2 bedroom – land size over 1,000m2
Ipswich, Logan, Toowoomba – can be rented out as an investment. 
Moreton Bay Shire Council is expected to make a public announcement shortly that they too will allow second dwellings to be built and rented out

Governed by State Legislation
(DPU) Dependant Person Units - 60m2
Cannot be rented out as investment

Governed by ACT State Government
Called Secondary Dwellings
90m2, 2 bedroom
Can be rented out as investments

Governed by State Legislation
The “Ancillary Flat” 30% of main dwelling (or 60m2)

Logan Granny Flats, your local Granny Flat Experts, bring to you another interesting snippet :

Wally David
Thesmartmoney.com.au
2.5.15

The short of it…

•  A granny flat can be a win-win scenario for a parent and their adult child.
  
•  A granny flat interest is where you exchange assets or money for the right to live in someone else’s property (generally your children or grandchildren’s property) for as long as you live.
  
•  Centrelink will allow you to pay or transfer a certain amount of money for your granny flat, without affecting your pension.
  
•  It is vital you have a formal agreement drawn up to ensure that everything is documented.
  

The long of it… 
If you’re contemplating the idea of downsizing your home, you could consider the option of a granny flat.

It could potentially be a win-win scenario. Think about it…living nearby family in your latter years in a safe, secure environment, providing you the ability to stay at home for longer and perhaps avoiding or delaying the need for a retirement village or nursing home. It’s also likely to be a cheaper option than another home, unit or retirement village so you may be able to pocket some change from the exercise to use for other purposes.

On the flip side, the person you move in with (presumably your child or grandchild) gets a lump sum to construct or make modifications to their home for your living quarters. This will eventually add value to their home. Alternatively, if they already have the space it could mean a sum of money to reduce or pay off their mortgage.

What is a granny flat?
Traditionally, a granny flat has been a part of a house that provides self-contained accommodation for an elderly relative.

From Centrelink’s point of view, a granny flat interest is where you exchange assets or money for a right to live in someone else’s property for as long as you live. Commonly this will be in the home of one of your children or grandchildren, though not always the case.

An alternative is to transfer the ownership of your existing home to one of your children but retain a right to live there for the remainder of your years.

A granny flat must be part of any private residence and cannot be owned by you or your partner.

Granny flats and Centrelink – How does a granny flat affect your pension?
Centrelink will allow you to pay or transfer up to a certain amount of money for your granny flat, without affecting your pension entitlements. This is known as the reasonableness test amount.

The reasonableness test amount is based on the following formula:

Combined annual Age Pension rate for a couple MULTIPLIED BY a conversion factor

Sounds complicated? Bear with me…

The conversation factor is based on your age. You can click here to find out the current conversion factor for your age. If you’re a couple the age of the younger partner is used.

For example, Charles (who turns 84 next birthday) and Edna (who turns 77 next birthday) purchased a granny flat right by paying $350,000 from the sale of their home to their son.

The reasonableness test amount for Charles and Edna will be $387,507, being $33,035.60 x 11.73 (the age related factor based on Edna’s age).

Charles and Edna paid $350,000 for the granny flat which is less than the reasonable test amount of $387,507. Therefore this $350,000 will not be assessed against their pension and they will continue to be treated as homeowners by Centrelink.

What happens if you pay more than the reasonableness test amount? 
You can pay more than the reasonableness amount for your granny flat interest, but any extra will continue to be assessed against your pension for a period of five years. This works in a similar way to the gifting rules with Centrelink (click here for more details). Simply, it’s Centrelink way of covering themselves by preventing people from giving away all their money to obtain more pension!

Are you still assessed as a homeowner? 
It depends on how much you pay for your granny flat interest. Currently, if you pay less than $142,500 for your granny flat interest you will be assessed as non-homeowner by Centrelink. This interest will be assessed as an asset, though you will have access to the higher asset limit for a non-homeowner. You may also qualify for rent assistance if you pay rent.

If you pay more than the $142,500, you are assessed as a homeowner by Centrelink. So in the earlier example, Charles and Edna above would be considered homeowners, hence, the $350,000 they paid for their granny flat isn’t assessed as an asset by Centrelink.

This $142,500 amount is what’s known as the ‘extra allowable amount’. You can calculate this by working out the difference between the homeowner and non-homeowner asset limits.

What if the property needs to be sold? 
You need to be careful as your interest cannot be revoked simply because the owner wishes to sell the property. They have three options available:

1.   sell the property with your granny flat interest as a condition of sale
2.   transfer your granny flat interest to another property, or
3.   have the owner of the granny flat compensate you financially for losing your granny flat interest.

You should contact Centrelink first to double-check if any of these options would reduce your payment.

A granny flat can be a win-win scenario for all parties if structured correctly. It is vital you get some advice and have a formal agreement drawn up to ensure that everything is documented. This will protect all stakeholders and prevent any disputes down the track.

March 10, 2015 – 5:30pm
By Kristian Silva

Big Brother's eye will be sharpest over Logan, with the council unveiling a $1.3 million camera room with state-of-the-art technology.

Security officers will have access to about 310 cameras across the city, stationed in malls, train stations, bus stops, parks and other thoroughfares.

All this will be managed through the latest version of Teleste, a security system used in cities including Paris and Stockholm.

Logan Mayor Pam Parker described the city's previous security monitoring setup as "archaic", and believes the new technology will help cut crime.