NSW Planning Reform: Dual Occupancies (Feb 2025)

In NSW the Low and Mid Rise Housing Reform has remained mostly under wraps since its exhibition in December 2023, but some critical information just became public via an interesting source: Ku-ring-gai Council.

Reforms still on track?

Since the initial exhibition in December 2023, NSW Department of Planning and Minister Paul Scully have continually insisted the reform will be delivered but have failed to provide any further details.

Part of the reform was already implemented in July 2024: permissibility for dual occupancies in R2 zones statewide, minus a few exceptions. However, this permissibility can’t be used for CDC projects until July 2025 to give time to Councils to establish new minimum lot size rules that would apply to dual occupancy CDCs.

Crucial new information

Ku-ring-gai Council just placed their proposed dual occupancy lot size rules  on exhibition (here). In their materials, they reveal some crucial tidbits about the broader Low and Mid Rise Reforms:

1. The area within 800m walking distance of selected stations and centres will be called “Local Housing Areas”. In Ku-ring-gai this includes Gordon, Lindfield, Killara, Roseville, Pymble, St Ives, Turramurra, & Wahroonga.
2. Within Local Housing Areas, there will be a uniform minimum lot size for dual occupancy of 450 sqm area and 12m width - BUT (!) these rules will only apply to DAs, not CDCs.

Consequences for dual occupancies

This means after the reforms are enacted, some properties will become newly eligible for dual occupancy via DA even if they can’t do one by CDC - e.g. lot area at least 450 sqm but less than the LEP min lot size. And some properties will be eligible for dual occupancy via CDC but not via DA - e.g. a 425 sqm lot in an LHA with no LEP min lot size.

In the few Councils like Ku-ring-gai that recently gained permissibility for dual occupancy in R2 zone, if they fail to establish a minimum lot size rule, the default would be 400 sqm via CDC anywhere, 450 sqm via DA in an LHA, or no minimum via DA outside an LHA. Yes it's complicated!

How many properties are eligible for dual occupancy?

PropCode has analysed all properties to quantify what the impact of this proposed rule would be. We mapped the Local Housing Areas using 800m walking distance from stations and centres; however we only used E2 and SP5 zones as it remains unclear which E1-zoned centres will be included.

We found that with the new 450 sqm / 12m rules, at least 26,000 properties will gain eligibility for dual occupancy via DA where a dual occupancy cannot currently be approved by either CDC or DA. This represents nearly 3/4 of the properties that weren't already CDC or DA eligible. See the table below for a breakdown by LGA.

To request bulk extracts of property details from this analysis, please contact us here.

The table includes only lots that are in R2 zone, are within LHAs (excluding TOD SEPP), and have area of at least 400 sqm or the LEP minimum lot size. No other filters have been applied, e.g. heritage or hazards. Each lot is counted only once, being placed in the furthest left column possible.