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Victoria · VIC

Melbourne

Distances measured from Flinders Street Station.

Highly restricted land

≈45% of Melbourne’s residential land within 20km of Flinders Street Station is highly restricted.

Across the whole urban area, this rises to 50%.

Melbourne ranks #8 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.

Melbourne’s residential zoning is ≈45% highly restrictive
Highly restricted residential
Not highly restricted residential
20km headline radius

Highly restricted, by distance from Flinders Street Station

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

2-storey cap

≈40%

Two-storey caps make dense development illegal.

Detached-only

≈2%

Only detached houses permitted—no townhouses or apartments.

Low-density only

≈36%

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

heritage controls

≈11%

Heritage restrictions often make redevelopment prohibitively difficult.

Highly restricted (total)

≈45%

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

Where Melbourne ranks across the country

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

Highly restricted

Melbourne: ≈45% · rank #8 of 8

Hobart ≈97%
Adelaide ≈92%
Darwin ≈88%
Perth ≈87%
Brisbane ≈86%
Sydney ≈81%
Canberra ≈74%
Melbourne ≈45%
0% (least restrictive) (most restrictive) 100%

Highly restricted

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

2-storey cap

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

Low-density

  1. 1. Canberra ≈74%
  2. 2. Darwin ≈73%
  3. 3. Brisbane ≈73%
  4. 4. Sydney ≈69%
  5. 5. Perth ≈54%
  6. 6. Melbourne ≈36%
  7. 7. Adelaide ≈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 ≈3%
  5. 5. Perth ≈3%
  6. 6. Canberra ≈2%
  7. 7. Brisbane ≈1%
  8. 8. Darwin ≈0%

Permits no more than 2 storeys

≈40% of Melbourne’s residential land within 20km permits no more than 2 storeys.

Across the whole urban area, this rises to 47%.

Permits no more than 2 storeys, by distance

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

Across Melbourne’s residential land

40% capped at no more than 2 storeys54% 3+ storeys allowed6% no published height limit

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

What counts in Melbourne

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

Zones: NRZ1, LDRZ, NRZ3, NRZ4, UGZ3, LDRZ2 (+33 more)

Low-density only

≈36% of Melbourne’s land within 20km is zoned for “low-density” within the planning scheme.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 30%.

Low-density only, by distance

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

Across Melbourne’s residential land

36% low-density only64% denser housing allowed

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

What counts in Melbourne

Zones: NRZ1, LDRZ, NRZ3, NRZ4, LDRZ2, NRZ5 (+9 more)

Detached houses only

≈2% of Melbourne’s residential land within 20km permits only detached houses.

Across the whole urban area, this rises to 9%.

Detached-houses-only zoning, by distance

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

Across Melbourne’s residential land

2% detached houses only98% other dwellings allowed

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

What counts in Melbourne

Zones: LDRZ, LDRZ2, LDRZ1, LDRZ3, LDRZ4

heritage controls

≈11% of Melbourne’s residential land within 20km is under heritage controls.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 4%.

heritage controls, by distance

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

Across Melbourne’s residential land

11% heritage controlled89% no heritage control

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

What counts in Melbourne

Controls: State Heritage, Local Heritage

Highly restricted land near rapid transit

≈40% of Melbourne’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

40% highly restricted60% 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

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

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

Local restrictiveness

Melbourne’s councils, ranked by restrictiveness.

  1. Yarra Ranges≈90%
  2. Boroondara≈86%
  3. Yarra≈84%
  4. Knox≈83%
  5. Glen Eira≈75%
  6. Manningham≈74%
  7. Kingston (Vic.)≈74%
  8. Hobsons Bay≈70%
  9. Mitchell≈69%
  10. Cardinia≈69%
  11. Bayside (Vic.)≈69%
  12. Nillumbik≈64%
  13. Melton≈60%
  14. Merri-bek≈59%
  15. Port Phillip≈56%
  16. Stonnington≈56%
  17. Brimbank≈52%
  18. Whitehorse≈50%
  19. Melbourne≈44%
  20. Hume≈44%
  21. Wyndham≈43%
  22. Maroondah≈43%
  23. Casey≈41%
  24. Banyule≈40%
  25. Whittlesea≈34%
  26. Monash≈30%
  27. Greater Dandenong≈27%
  28. Mornington Peninsula≈26%
  29. Frankston≈23%
  30. Maribyrnong≈17%
  31. Darebin≈11%
  32. Moonee Valley≈11%
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 Melbourne 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

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

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≈45%

#8 of 8 · most to least restrictive