Highly restricted land

≈88% of Darwin’s residential land within 20km of Darwin GPO is highly restricted.

Darwin ranks #3 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.

Darwin’s residential zoning is ≈88% highly restrictive

Highly restricted residential

Not highly restricted residential

20km headline radius

Highly restricted, by distance from Darwin GPO

2-storey cap

≈88%

Two-storey caps make dense development illegal.

Detached-only

≈73%

Only detached houses permitted—no townhouses or apartments.

Low-density only

≈73%

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

heritage controls

≈0%

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)

≈88%

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

Where Darwin ranks across the country

Darwin ranks #3 of 8 among Australian capitals for highly restrictive planning.

Highly restricted

Darwin: ≈88% · rank #3 of 8

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

Highly restricted

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

2-storey cap

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

Low-density

1. Canberra ≈74%
2. Brisbane ≈74%
3. Darwin ≈73%
4. Sydney ≈69%
5. Perth ≈55%
6. Adelaide ≈34%
7. Melbourne ≈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 ≈4%
5. Perth ≈2%
6. Canberra ≈2%
7. Brisbane ≈1%
8. Darwin ≈0%

Permits no more than 2 storeys

≈88% of Darwin’s residential land within 20km permits no more than 2 storeys.

Permits no more than 2 storeys, by distance

Across Darwin’s residential land

88% capped at no more than 2 storeys5% 3+ storeys allowed6% no published height limit

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

What counts in Darwin

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

Zones: LR, LMR, RR (+6 more)

Low-density only

≈73% of Darwin’s land within 20km is zoned for “low-density” within the planning scheme.

Low-density only, by distance

Across Darwin’s residential land

73% low-density only27% denser housing allowed

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

What counts in Darwin

Zones: LR, RR, RL

Detached houses only

≈73% of Darwin’s residential land within 20km permits only detached houses.

Detached-houses-only zoning, by distance

Across Darwin’s residential land

73% detached houses only27% other dwellings allowed

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

What counts in Darwin

Zones: LR, RR, RL

heritage controls

≈0% of Darwin’s residential land within 20km is under heritage controls.

heritage controls, by distance

Across Darwin’s residential land

88% no heritage control12% not classified

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

What counts in Darwin

Controls: Local Heritage

Highly restricted land near rapid transit

≈0% of Darwin’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

100% 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

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

Every residential zone in Darwin

Low Density ResidentialLRLow-density19 km²65.3%
Low-Medium Density ResidentialLMRLow-to-medium density4 km²14.3%
Medium Density ResidentialMRMedium density1 km²3.6%
High Density ResidentialHRHigh density<1 km²0.7%
Central BusinessCBCentres / mixed-use core1 km²4.9%
CommercialCMixed-use1 km²4.1%
Service CommercialSCMixed-use1 km²4.6%
Tourist CommercialTCMixed-use1 km²2.5%

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

Darwin’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 Darwin 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

You are here

≈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