Low and mid- rise housing
Update

The first stage of the NSW Government's Low- and Mid- Rise Housing Reforms known as 'Stage 1: Dual occupancies and semi-detached homes' has been introduced and updated information is now available for what will become Stage 2 of the reforms. 

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Stage 1: Dual occupancies and semi-detached homes

From 1 July 2024, dual occupancies and semi-detached homes will be allowed in all R2 low-density residential zones across NSW.

These changes won’t apply to:

• land with a high risk from natural hazards like bushfire and floods

• land located close to dangerous goods pipelines and hazardous aircraft noise

• land that includes a heritage item

• the Bathurst, Hawkesbury, Blue Mountains and Wollondilly areas due to bushfire, flooding and evacuation risks. Bathurst has no suitable R2 land.

 

The complying development pathway available to dual occupancy development under State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008 will be temporarily switched off in areas where this development type wasn’t previously allowed.

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This will give affected councils the chance to plan for appropriate settings such as lot sizes for dual occupancy developments in their areas The complying development pathway for dual occupancy development will be reinstated in these locations as part of stage 2 of the reforms. If dual occupancies are already permitted in your area with a complying development pathway, this will stay the same.

 

Stage 2: Station and town centre precincts

Stage 2 is planned to be implemented later in 2024 and will provide further permissibility and density opportunities for low- and mid-rise housing around designated ‘station and town centre precincts’.

 

Specific town centres and stations within Sydney, Central Coast, Illawarra, and the Hunter region will be identified in the Housing SEPP, and town centres will be mapped using an 800m walking distance from the town centre or station where the policy applies.

 

The permissibility of uses is proposed to be expanded as follows within station and town centre precincts:

• Multi-dwelling housing (terraces and townhouses) in zones R1, R2, R3.

• Low-rise apartment buildings in zones R1 and R2.

• Mid-rise apartment buildings in zones R3 and R4.

The density controls are yet to be confirmed, but we anticipate will be:

• Within 400m: 2.2:1 FSR, 22m height (Residential Flat Building) and 24m height (Shop Top Housing), including a maximum height in storeys control of 6 storeys.

• Between 400m-800m: 1.5:1 FSR, 17.5m height including a maximum height in storeys control of 4 storeys.

 

The reforms will notably exclude land within the employment/town centres themselves (E1, E2, MU1 and SP5 zones).

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For more information on the low- to mid- rise reforms, feel free to reach out to the Beam team.