A granny flat is one of the smartest ways to get more out of an Illawarra block. A separate space for a parent or an adult kid, a home office that isn't the spare room, or a second dwelling that brings in rent. The Ovas Build team designs and builds them properly, as small homes in their own right, not a shed with a kitchen jammed in the corner.
We've been building across Wollongong, the Illawarra and the Southern Highlands for more than ten years. A granny flat touches a lot of trades and a fair bit of paperwork, so we run the whole thing for you under one roof. You deal with us from the first site visit to the day we hand over the keys.
Studios, one and two-bedrooms
Most granny flats fall into three shapes, and we build all of them:
- Studios that make the most of a 35 to 45 square metre footprint, open-plan with a smart kitchenette and a good bathroom.
- One-bedroom flats with a proper separate bedroom, ideal for a tenant or a family member who wants their own space.
- Two-bedroom dwellings up to the 60 square metre limit, which suit a small family or a higher rent.
We don't drop a stock plan on your yard and hope it fits. Every design starts with your block, its slope, where the sun tracks, the existing house and the trees and services already on site. The result is a flat that sits right on your land and feels bigger than its floor area. There's more on the options over on our granny flat designs page, and if the single-bedroom shape is the one you keep coming back to, we've drawn out the common one-bedroom granny flat floor plans and where each arrangement wins.
Approvals sorted for you
Most secondary dwellings in NSW can go through as a Complying Development Certificate, a faster approval path that skips a full council assessment when the block and the design comply. If your site doesn't fit that, it runs as a DA through your local council instead. Either way, we handle the design, the engineering and the approval so you're not stuck reading planning rules at midnight. We explain the granny flat rules across NSW in plain terms before any decisions get made, and if you'd rather understand the process before we sit down, our guide to granny flat council approval in NSW walks through both paths and what knocks a block off the faster one.
Granny flat builders across the Illawarra
We design and build granny flats across the whole Illawarra, from Helensburgh and the northern beaches suburbs down through Wollongong, Dapto, Shellharbour and Albion Park to Kiama, plus the Southern Highlands. The block changes more than the postcode does, and it's the block that sets the design.
Along the escarpment side of Thirroul, Bulli and Figtree the yards fall away, so the flat is set on a stepped slab or a bearer-and-joist floor and the entry is placed where the ground meets it. On the flatter coastal blocks around Warilla, Port Kembla and Dapto the question is usually drainage and setbacks rather than slope. In the newer Shellharbour and Albion Park estates the yards are smaller, so the layout has to earn its floor area and a two-bedroom plan needs real care to fit the 60 square metre limit without feeling tight.
That's why we start every job with a site visit and a design drawn for that piece of ground. Our granny flat designs page shows the studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom layouts we work from and what each one needs from a block.
One team, one fixed price
You get a fixed-price proposal before we start, so there's no drip-feed of extras once the slab's down. We run tidy sites, we use coastal-grade materials that stand up to the salt air down here, and the same crew sees the job through. We're licensed and insured, and we keep you in the loop the whole way.
Wondering what one costs? We've put together a granny flat cost guide for the Illawarra. When you're ready to talk specifics, call us on 0434 037 851 or send the details through our contact page for a free, no-pressure quote.
Common questions
- How big can a granny flat be in NSW?
- A secondary dwelling can be up to 60 square metres of internal living area under the state housing rules, plus extras like a covered patio or carport within their own limits. That comfortably fits a studio, a one-bedroom, or a tidy two-bedroom. We work the layout back from what your block and the rules allow.
- Do you handle the council approval as well as the build?
- Yes. We sort the design, the engineering and the approval path for you, whether that runs as a Complying Development Certificate or a full DA through council. You get one point of contact for the lot instead of chasing a designer, a certifier and a builder separately.
- Can a granny flat be rented out separately?
- In most cases, yes. A compliant secondary dwelling in NSW can be lived in by family or rented to a separate household, which is why so many owners around the Illawarra build them for income. Your block and approval need to tick the right boxes first, and we talk that through before you commit to anything.
- How long does a granny flat take to build?
- Every job is different, but once approval and engineering are sorted, a straightforward build usually runs a few months on site. A sloping or tight block, or a custom design, adds time. We give you a realistic program with your fixed-price proposal so you know where things stand.