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Queensland · QLD

Brisbane

Distances measured from Roma Street Station.

Highly restricted land

≈87% of Brisbane’s residential land within 20km of Roma Street Station is highly restricted.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 84%.

Brisbane ranks #4 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.

Brisbane’s residential zoning is ≈87% highly restrictive
Highly restricted residential
Not highly restricted residential
20km headline radius

Highly restricted, by distance from Roma Street Station

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

2-storey cap

≈86%

Two-storey caps make dense development illegal.

Detached-only

≈66%

Only detached houses permitted—no townhouses or apartments.

Low-density only

≈74%

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

heritage controls

≈1%

Heritage restrictions often make redevelopment prohibitively difficult.

Highly restricted (total)

≈87%

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

Where Brisbane ranks across the country

Brisbane ranks #4 of 8 among Australian capitals for highly restrictive planning.

Highly restricted

Brisbane: ≈87% · rank #4 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

≈86% of Brisbane’s residential land within 20km permits no more than 2 storeys.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 82%.

Permits no more than 2 storeys, by distance

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

Across Brisbane’s residential land

86% capped at no more than 2 storeys12% 3+ storeys allowed2% no published height limit

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

What counts in Brisbane

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

Zones: RR, LDR, EC, LMDR, CR (+9 more)

Low-density only

≈74% of Brisbane’s land within 20km is zoned for “low-density” within the planning scheme.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 56%.

Low-density only, by distance

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

Across Brisbane’s residential land

74% low-density only26% denser housing allowed

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

What counts in Brisbane

Zones: RR, LDR, CR

Detached houses only

≈66% of Brisbane’s residential land within 20km permits only detached houses.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 34%.

Detached-houses-only zoning, by distance

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

Across Brisbane’s residential land

66% detached houses only28% other dwellings allowed6% not classified

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

What counts in Brisbane

Zones: RR, LDR, CR

heritage controls

≈1% of Brisbane’s residential land within 20km is under heritage controls.

heritage controls, by distance

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

Across Brisbane’s residential land

1% heritage controlled99% no heritage control

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

What counts in Brisbane

Controls: State Heritage, Local Heritage

Highly restricted land near rapid transit

≈79% of Brisbane’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

79% highly restricted21% 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

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

Every residential zone in Brisbane

  1. Character residentialCR34 km²5.5%
  2. Low density residentialLDR375 km²61.0%
  3. Low to medium density residentialLMDR79 km²12.8%
  4. Low-medium density residentialLMR28 km²4.5%
  5. Medium density residentialMDR45 km²7.3%
  6. High density residentialHDR10 km²1.6%
  7. CentreC8 km²1.4%
  8. District centreDC7 km²1.2%
  9. Local centreLC1 km²0.1%
  10. Major centreMC2 km²0.3%
  11. Neighbourhood centreNC2 km²0.3%
  12. Principal centrePC3 km²0.6%
  13. Priority Development AreaPDA4 km²0.7%
  14. Specialised centreSC3 km²0.5%
  15. Mixed useMU12 km²1.9%
  16. TownshipT2 km²0.2%
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

Brisbane’s councils, ranked by restrictiveness.

  1. Redland≈89%
  2. Brisbane≈88%
  3. Logan≈88%
  4. Ipswich≈86%
  5. Moreton Bay≈73%
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 Brisbane 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

≈92%

#2 of 8 · most to least restrictive

NT

Darwin

≈88%

#3 of 8 · most to least restrictive

QLD

Brisbane

You are here

≈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