Highly restricted land

≈81% of Sydney’s residential land within 20km of Central Station is highly restricted.

Across the whole urban area, this rises to 85%.

Sydney ranks #6 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.

Sydney’s residential zoning is ≈81% highly restrictive

Highly restricted residential

Not highly restricted residential

20km headline radius

Highly restricted, by distance from Central Station

2-storey cap

≈77%

Two-storey caps make dense development illegal.

Detached-only

≈3%

Only detached houses permitted—no townhouses or apartments.

Low-density only

≈69%

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

heritage controls

≈13%

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)

≈81%

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

Where Sydney ranks across the country

Sydney ranks #6 of 8 among Australian capitals for highly restrictive planning.

Highly restricted

Sydney: ≈81% · rank #6 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

≈77% of Sydney’s residential land within 20km permits no more than 2 storeys.

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

Permits no more than 2 storeys, by distance

Across Sydney’s residential land

77% capped at no more than 2 storeys21% 3+ storeys allowed2% no published height limit

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

What counts in Sydney

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

Zones: R2, C4, R3, R5 (+8 more)

Low-density only

≈69% of Sydney’s land within 20km is zoned for “low-density” within the planning scheme.

Across the whole urban area, this rises to 75%.

Low-density only, by distance

Across Sydney’s residential land

69% low-density only31% denser housing allowed

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

What counts in Sydney

Zones: R2, C4, R5, RU5

Detached houses only

≈3% of Sydney’s residential land within 20km permits only detached houses.

Across the whole urban area, this rises to 5%.

Detached-houses-only zoning, by distance

Across Sydney’s residential land

3% detached houses only95% other dwellings allowed2% not classified

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

What counts in Sydney

Zones: R2, R5, RU5

heritage controls

≈13% of Sydney’s residential land within 20km is under heritage controls.

Across the whole urban area, this falls to 7%.

heritage controls, by distance

Across Sydney’s residential land

13% heritage controlled87% no heritage control

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

What counts in Sydney

Controls: State Heritage, Local Heritage

Highly restricted land near rapid transit

≈76% of Sydney’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

76% highly restricted24% 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

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

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

Local restrictiveness

Sydney’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 Sydney 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

You are here

≈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