Casa Daily · Planning glossary
The Queensland planning vocabulary you actually need.
One question per entry. Plain English. Worked SEQ examples. Built for the mum-and-dad investor on their first subdivision and the small developer running 2-10 sites a year — not for planning students.
MCU
Material Change of Use (MCU) in Queensland
A Material Change of Use (MCU) is one of the four development types defined by the Queensland Planning Act. You need an MCU approval whenever you start a new use of premises, materially change the intensity of an existing use, or re-establish a use that has lapsed. For SEQ developers and investors, MCU is the gate between buying a house and approving townhouses, dual occupancy, secondary dwelling, or rooming accommodation on the same lot.
Read entryRoL
Reconfiguration of a Lot (RoL) in SEQ
Reconfiguration of a Lot (RoL) is the development type that covers subdivision — splitting one lot into two or more, or rearranging boundaries between adjoining lots. It's separate from MCU and is the right approval to seek when your strategy is selling vacant lots, building a single dwelling on each new lot, or carving off a granny-flat lot.
Read entryCode Assessable
Code vs Impact Assessment in Queensland
Every Queensland development application is one of two assessment levels: Code Assessable or Impact Assessable. The difference drives the entire risk profile — timeline, cost, certainty, and whether neighbours can object or appeal. Knowing which level applies to a listing before you make an offer is the single highest-leverage piece of intelligence you can have.
Read entrySmall Lot House Code
Small Lot Housing in Brisbane
Small Lot Housing is the Brisbane City Council pathway that lets a single residential lot be subdivided into smaller-than-standard lots — typically 200-400m² — each carrying a single dwelling. It's one of the most powerful Code Assessable density tools in the SEQ planning landscape.
Read entryLMR
Low-Medium Density Residential (LMR) Zone — Brisbane
The Low-Medium Density Residential (LMR) zone is the workhorse of Brisbane's infill story. It's the zone where small-lot subdivision, dual occupancy, and code-assessable townhouses all live. If you understand LMR — and especially the difference between LMR1, LMR2 and LMR3 sub-precincts — you understand 80% of Brisbane's mum-and-dad development market.
Read entrysecondary dwelling
Secondary Dwellings (Granny Flats) in SEQ
A secondary dwelling — what most people call a granny flat — is the lowest-friction density play in SEQ. Most councils permit one as Accepted Development on a residential lot, subject to size limits and siting rules. The catch is whether the council allows separate tenancy (i.e. renting it to someone unrelated to the main dwelling occupants), which materially changes the yield.
Read entrydual occupancy
Dual Occupancy vs Secondary Dwelling — what's the difference?
Dual occupancy and secondary dwelling sound similar but trigger completely different planning rules. Picking the wrong one will cost you 3-6 months of timeline and tens of thousands of dollars in unnecessary fees. The distinction is simple once you know it.
Read entryinfrastructure charges
Infrastructure Charges (Headworks) in SEQ
Infrastructure charges — also called headworks — are the levies councils impose on every new dwelling or lot to fund the trunk infrastructure (water, sewer, stormwater, transport, parks) that the development consumes. They're often the second-largest line in a small developer's feasibility, after construction.
Read entrydevelopment margin
Development Feasibility — what margin should I target?
Development margin — Net Profit ÷ Total Development Cost — is the headline number every feasibility tool spits out. The right target depends on the project size, the assessment risk, and your cost of capital. Get this benchmark wrong by 5% and you'll either chase deals that sink you or pass on deals you should be chasing.
Read entryInformation Request
Information Requests in Queensland DAs
An Information Request (IR) is the council's formal demand for additional information during DA assessment. Each IR cycle pauses the assessment clock and typically adds 4-12 weeks to your timeline. Avoiding IRs — or responding to them tightly — is the single biggest lever you have on approval timeline once the application is lodged.
Read entryDA
Development Applications (DAs) in Queensland — the basics
A Development Application (DA) is the formal request you lodge with a local council seeking permission to develop. The Queensland Planning Act 2016 defines four DA types — Material Change of Use, Reconfiguration of a Lot, Operational Works, and Building Works — and the council's planning scheme tells you which one (or combination) applies to your project.
Read entryCasa Score
What is the Casa Score?
The Casa Score is a 0-100 rating of the development potential of a specific Queensland property at a specific point in time. It's the headline number on every listing in your morning brief and the ranking signal that decides which 5-10 listings out of thousands actually surface.
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