Highly restricted land

≈92% of Adelaide’s residential land within 20km of Adelaide Station is highly restricted.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 88%.

Adelaide ranks #2 of 8 most restrictive Australian capitals. “Highly restricted” means residential land that is either zoned for no more than 2 storeys, designated low-density only, or covered by a heritage overlay.

Adelaide’s residential zoning is ≈92% highly restrictive

Highly restricted residential

Not highly restricted residential

20km headline radius

Highly restricted, by distance from Adelaide Station

2-storey cap

≈91%

Two-storey caps make dense development illegal.

Detached-only

≈0%

Only detached houses permitted—no townhouses or apartments.

Low-density only

≈34%

Low-density zoning typically only permits one or two dwellings per lot.

heritage controls

≈9%

Heritage restrictions often make redevelopment prohibitively difficult.

This is the geometric union of the four controls above. Controls overlap (for instance, a heritage block can also be zoned low-density), which is why the components don’t sum.

Highly restricted (total)

≈92%

Source: Geometric union of 2-storey, low-density, detached-only, and heritage controls. Methodology →

Where Adelaide ranks across the country

Adelaide ranks #2 of 8 among Australian capitals for highly restrictive planning.

Highly restricted

Adelaide: ≈92% · rank #2 of 8

0% (least restrictive) (most restrictive) 100%

Highly restricted

1. Hobart ≈97%
2. Adelaide ≈92%
3. Darwin ≈88%
4. Perth ≈87%
5. Brisbane ≈86%
6. Sydney ≈81%
7. Canberra ≈74%
8. Melbourne ≈45%

2-storey cap

1. Hobart ≈97%
2. Adelaide ≈91%
3. Darwin ≈88%
4. Perth ≈86%
5. Brisbane ≈85%
6. Sydney ≈77%
7. Canberra ≈74%
8. Melbourne ≈40%

Low-density

1. Canberra ≈74%
2. Darwin ≈73%
3. Brisbane ≈73%
4. Sydney ≈69%
5. Perth ≈54%
6. Melbourne ≈36%
7. Adelaide ≈34%
8. Hobart ≈14%

Detached-only

1. Darwin ≈73%
2. Brisbane ≈66%
3. Sydney ≈3%
4. Melbourne ≈2%
5. Adelaide ≈0%
6. Canberra ≈0%
7. Hobart ≈0%
8. Perth ≈0%

Heritage

1. Sydney ≈13%
2. Melbourne ≈11%
3. Adelaide ≈9%
4. Hobart ≈3%
5. Perth ≈3%
6. Canberra ≈2%
7. Brisbane ≈1%
8. Darwin ≈0%

Permits no more than 2 storeys

≈91% of Adelaide’s residential land within 20km permits no more than 2 storeys.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 87%.

Permits no more than 2 storeys, by distance

Across Adelaide’s residential land

91% capped at no more than 2 storeys8% 3+ storeys allowed1% no published height limit

Source: Adelaide parcels capped at no more than 2 storeys, against the all-housing-permitted denominator. Methodology →

What counts in Adelaide

Published height limit of ~2 storeys (≤ 8.5 m)

Zones: GN (General Neighbourhood), HN (Hills Neighbourhood), EN (Established Neighbourhood), SN (Suburban Neighbourhood), HDN (Housing Diversity Neighbourhood), RuN (Rural Neighbourhood) (+19 more)

Low-density only

≈34% of Adelaide’s land within 20km is zoned for “low-density” within the planning scheme.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 28%.

Low-density only, by distance

Across Adelaide’s residential land

34% low-density only66% denser housing allowed

Source: Adelaide parcels zoned for low-density residential use only. Methodology →

What counts in Adelaide

Zones: HN (Hills Neighbourhood), EN (Established Neighbourhood), SN (Suburban Neighbourhood), RuN (Rural Neighbourhood), RuL (Rural Living) (+4 more)

Detached houses only

0% of Adelaide’s residential land permits only detached houses.

No residential zone in Adelaide mandates detached dwellings only—every zone permits at least one denser form (a dual occupancy, townhouses or apartments). Detached-only mandates appear mainly in the Queensland, WA, NT and NSW schemes.

Across Adelaide’s residential land

98% other dwellings allowed2% not classified

Source: Adelaide parcels permitting only detached dwellings, against the all-housing-permitted denominator. Methodology →

heritage controls

≈9% of Adelaide’s residential land within 20km is under heritage controls.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 8%.

heritage controls, by distance

Across Adelaide’s residential land

9% heritage controlled91% no heritage control

Source: Adelaide residential parcels intersecting any state, local, or other heritage overlay. Methodology →

What counts in Adelaide

Controls: State Heritage, Local Heritage, Other Heritage Overlay

Highly restricted land near rapid transit

≈82% of Adelaide’s residential land within 800m of rapid transit is highly restricted.

800m buffer

Highly restricted near PT

Open residential near PT

Train / tram / ferry

High-freq bus

Within 800m of rapid transit

82% highly restricted18% not highly restricted

Source: Rapid-transit stops = train + tram + ferry stations plus any bus stop with mean headway ≤15 min across the weekday 7am-7pm GTFS window. Buffered 800m, intersected with the highly-restricted residential layer. Methodology →

Detailed zoning map

Adelaide’s residential planning controls, polygon-by-polygon

Source: State-published zoning data. Excludes zones where residential uses are not typically permitted.

Local restrictiveness

Adelaide’s councils, ranked by restrictiveness.

Per page:

All councils →

Source: ABS 2025 LGA boundaries × union of 2-storey, low-density, detached-only, and heritage controls (parcel-level where available; zone-polygon for SA / ACT). Filtered to Adelaide LGAs with ≥1.5 km² of residential land.. Methodology →

Keep exploring

All Australian capitals

TAS

Hobart

≈97%

#1 of 8 · most to least restrictive

SA

Adelaide

You are here

≈92%

#2 of 8 · most to least restrictive

NT

Darwin

≈88%

#3 of 8 · most to least restrictive

WA

Perth

≈87%

#4 of 8 · most to least restrictive

QLD

Brisbane

≈86%

#5 of 8 · most to least restrictive

NSW

Sydney

≈81%

#6 of 8 · most to least restrictive

ACT

Canberra

≈74%

#7 of 8 · most to least restrictive

VIC

Melbourne

≈45%

#8 of 8 · most to least restrictive