Skip to content

South Australia · SA

Adelaide

Distances measured from Adelaide Station.

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

151015200% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Distance from CBD (km) Share (%)

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.

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

Hobart ≈97%
Adelaide ≈92%
Darwin ≈88%
Brisbane ≈87%
Perth ≈86%
Sydney ≈81%
Canberra ≈74%
Melbourne ≈43%
0% (least restrictive) (most restrictive) 100%

Highly restricted

  1. 1. Hobart ≈97%
  2. 2. Adelaide ≈92%
  3. 3. Darwin ≈88%
  4. 4. Brisbane ≈87%
  5. 5. Perth ≈86%
  6. 6. Sydney ≈81%
  7. 7. Canberra ≈74%
  8. 8. Melbourne ≈43%

2-storey cap

  1. 1. Hobart ≈96%
  2. 2. Adelaide ≈91%
  3. 3. Darwin ≈88%
  4. 4. Perth ≈86%
  5. 5. Brisbane ≈86%
  6. 6. Sydney ≈77%
  7. 7. Canberra ≈74%
  8. 8. Melbourne ≈37%

Low-density

  1. 1. Canberra ≈74%
  2. 2. Brisbane ≈74%
  3. 3. Darwin ≈73%
  4. 4. Sydney ≈69%
  5. 5. Perth ≈55%
  6. 6. Adelaide ≈34%
  7. 7. Melbourne ≈34%
  8. 8. Hobart ≈14%

Detached-only

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

Heritage

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

151015200% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Distance from CBD (km) Share (%)

Across Adelaide’s residential land

91% capped at no more than 2 storeys9% 3+ storeys allowed

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) (+20 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

151015200% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Distance from CBD (km) Share (%)

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), WN (Waterfront Neighbourhood) (+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

151015200% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Distance from CBD (km) Share (%)

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

≈83% 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

83% highly restricted17% 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

Every residential zone in Adelaide

  1. Established NeighbourhoodEN42 km²8.9%
  2. Housing Diversity NeighbourhoodHDN29 km²6.2%
  3. Hills NeighbourhoodHN48 km²10.3%
  4. Master Planned TownshipMPT13 km²2.8%
  5. NeighbourhoodN10 km²2.2%
  6. Suburban NeighbourhoodSN21 km²4.5%
  7. TownshipT5 km²1.0%
  8. Township Activity CentreTAC<1 km²<0.1%
  9. Township Main StreetTMS1 km²0.3%
  10. Township NeighbourhoodTN3 km²0.7%
  11. Waterfront NeighbourhoodWN6 km²1.3%
  12. General NeighbourhoodGN205 km²43.9%
  13. Master Planned NeighbourhoodMPN52 km²11.1%
  14. Master Planned RenewalMPR<1 km²<0.1%
  15. Urban Renewal NeighbourhoodURN5 km²1.0%
  16. Capital CityCC2 km²0.3%
  17. City LivingCL2 km²0.4%
  18. City Main StreetCMS<1 km²<0.1%
  19. Local Activity CentreLAC1 km²0.3%
  20. Suburban Activity CentreSAC7 km²1.6%
  21. Suburban Main StreetSMS1 km²0.2%
  22. Urban Activity CentreUAC5 km²1.1%
  23. Business NeighbourhoodBN1 km²0.2%
  24. Home IndustryHIn<1 km²<0.1%
  25. Suburban BusinessSB2 km²0.4%
  26. Urban Corridor (Boulevard)UC(Bo)1 km²0.3%
  27. Urban Corridor (Business)UC(Bu)1 km²0.2%
  28. Urban Corridor (Living)UC(L)1 km²0.2%
  29. Urban Corridor (Main Street)UC(MS)1 km²0.2%
  30. Urban NeighbourhoodUN2 km²0.5%
Per page:

Source: State-published zoning data, residential ex-rural, bounded to the Significant Urban Area. Areas measure the zone polygons drawn here, which include road reserve and unsubdivided land, so they are a different measure from the lot-by-lot areas behind this page’s restricted-land figures.

Local restrictiveness

Adelaide’s councils, ranked by restrictiveness.

  1. Adelaide Hills≈100%
  2. Adelaide Plains≈100%
  3. Burnside≈98%
  4. Mitcham≈98%
  5. Campbelltown (SA)≈96%
  6. Holdfast Bay≈95%
  7. Charles Sturt≈94%
  8. Tea Tree Gully≈94%
  9. Walkerville≈93%
  10. Unley≈92%
  11. Norwood Payneham and St Peters≈92%
  12. Salisbury≈92%
  13. Port Adelaide Enfield≈92%
  14. Marion≈87%
  15. Onkaparinga≈86%
  16. Prospect≈85%
  17. Gawler≈83%
  18. West Torrens≈81%
  19. Light≈76%
  20. Mount Barker≈73%
  21. Playford≈67%
  22. Adelaide≈44%
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

QLD

Brisbane

≈87%

#4 of 8 · most to least restrictive

WA

Perth

≈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

≈43%

#8 of 8 · most to least restrictive