Issuing of Planning Directive No. 7 – Permits for Temporary Housing

The Minister for Planning has issued Planning Directive No. 7 – Permits for Temporary Housing in accordance with the recommendations of the Tasmanian Planning Commission. The planning directive came into effect on 16 September 2020 and applies to all interim planning schemes and the Sullivans Cove Planning Scheme 1997.


The planning directive provides targeted opportunities for temporary social housing delivered by, or on behalf of, the Director of Housing or another recognised housing support provider. Specifically, it provides a:

  • Permitted assessment pathway for the use of an existing building, and any necessary minor development, for temporary housing in certain zones.
  • Permitted assessment pathway for installing buildings (such as converted shipping containers) for temporary housing on the same site, or a site adjoining, an existing social housing facility in certain zones.
  • Discretionary assessment pathway for temporary housing for a broader range of circumstances where it would normally be prohibited.

The planning directive provides local councils with the ability to issue a planning permit for temporary housing under specific circumstances for up to 12 months.

The planning directive replaces Interim Planning Directive No. 3 – Permits for Temporary Housing, with the following key modifications as recommended by the Commission:

  • capping the number of subsequent permits that may be issued for temporary housing to be limited to a total of 3 years;
  • expanded exclusions in the Permitted assessment pathways for land subject to landslip, potentially contaminated land, significant trees or electricity transmission corridors;
  • expanding the matters to have regard to under the Discretionary assessment pathway to address considerations of availability of public transport, road capacity and utility services to the site;
  • additional requirement for temporary housing in bushfire-prone areas to have an emergency management strategy endorsed by the Tasmania Fire Service or an accredited person; and
  • editorial changes to clarify the requirements.

The planning directive and the associated fact sheet can be downloaded through the links below:

The Commission’s recommendation report is available on the iplan website.