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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Some adult children in Perth’s western suburbs are finding a way to live separately without buying a home: moving into a granny flat on their parents’ property. A PerthNow report published on 5 August 2024 linked the trend to housing and rental affordability pressure, relationship breakdowns and changes to planning rules. The report describes local observations and attributed figures, not a measured count of builds across Perth.
Why families are turning to backyard granny flats
PerthNow reported that adult children who could not afford to buy locally were among those moving into granny flats on their parents’ properties. Mike Nicholls, director of Granny Flats WA, also cited adult children returning home after relationship breakdowns. He described increased activity around Claremont and Nedlands, but the article gives no suburb-by-suburb building counts to establish the scale of the change.
The report presented several pressures as converging: housing and rental affordability, family circumstances, changes to planning rules, and interest in rental income. It did not quantify how much each factor contributed. Nicholls characterised the combination as “a spike in interest and builds.”
What the reported figures do—and don’t—show
The “one in nine” survey claim
PerthNow reported that a Finder survey of 1,070 Australians found “one in nine West Australians had moved back home.” The article did not state when the survey was conducted, the wording of its question or its methodology. The figure should therefore be understood as a survey result reported in 2024, not a current estimate of how many Western Australians live with their parents.
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A builder’s contract numbers
Nicholls said Granny Flats WA had signed about 70 contracts a year before the changes and was on track for about 200 a year afterward. Those are figures from one company’s director, quoted by PerthNow in 2024; they are not independently verified industry totals and do not measure all granny-flat construction in Perth.
Planning changes described in the 2024 report
PerthNow’s August 2024 account said changes announced by Planning Minister John Carey allowed granny flats on strata-titled homes and blocks smaller than 350 square metres. It also said council planning approval was no longer required, while a council-issued building permit was still needed. Nicholls additionally pointed to the removal of a required parking bay and relaxed rules about matching the main dwelling’s appearance.
Carey said the reforms were intended to make more granny flats compliant with the R-Codes without time-consuming planning approvals, and to make it easier for households to provide housing at an existing home. These are descriptions and statements from 2024, not confirmation of the rules now in force. Anyone considering a build should check current Western Australian planning requirements and the relevant local council’s permit process before relying on those details.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Granny flats as homes, not just add-ons
The report described granny flats increasingly being planned as small homes and incorporated into landscaping for new houses, rather than added only after the main home is built. That framing matters for families weighing a separate living space against a room in the main house: the story is about a way to remain on the family property while gaining a degree of separation, not a claim that every adult child or household is making the same choice.
PerthNow also noted the possibility of using a granny flat to generate income, but supplied no build-cost figures, expected rent, return calculation or investment analysis. Whether a dwelling is intended for a family member or a tenant changes the practical questions a household must answer, including current eligibility, site constraints, construction cost and the intended use.
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