Updated October 2026: several states have changed their zoning since we first wrote this. NSW replaced its business zones, including B4 Mixed Use, with new employment zones in 2023. South Australia moved every council onto one Planning and Design Code in 2021, the NT renamed its residential zones in 2020, and the ACT brought in a new Territory Plan in 2023. We’ve updated each state below and added Tasmania.
If you’re wanting to subdivide, build townhouses, unit blocks or really anything in the property development realm, you need to understand what zone and council you’ll be dealing with first to know what is and isn’t possible/profitable.
Zoning is the way that councils and state governments control what can and can’t be built, so that our cities and towns can grow sustainably. It is essentially a colour by numbers for property developers, but can become complicated very quickly. There are 538 councils across Australia. These days most states give their councils a standard set of zones to pick from, but the zone names, codes and rules still differ from state to state, and councils add their own local variations on top.
At a high-level, zoning falls into the following categories:
- Residential
- Commercial
- Industrial
- Mixed-Use
- Agricultural
- Public-Use
To make things easier, we use the Stash property developer software platform to show zoning examples across Australia.
You can sign up here to use Stash and find the corresponding zone and LGA for a single property, or search for properties within a specific zone (like low~medium residential for town houses) in any state in Oz. Open a property and its zone shows on the Planning Insights tab, or use the Property Zoning filter in Search all properties to find every property in a zone. You can also switch on the Zoning overlay to see zones as colours on the map. See View zoning on the map.
Codes Broken down by State
NSW (New South Wales)
As mentioned before, NSW is the golden child with their standardised zoning LEP. The most relevant/popular codes would be:
- R1 – General Residential
- R2 – Low Density Residential
- R3 – Medium Density Residential
- R4 – High Density Residential
- R5 – Large Lot Residential
- MU1 – Mixed Use (replaced B4 Mixed Use in April 2023)
- E1 – Local Centre (replaced B2 Local Centre, and B1 Neighbourhood Centre in many council areas)
The old business (B) and industrial (IN) zones were replaced by new employment zones across NSW on 26 April 2023, so if you see a B or IN code in older documents, check the NSW employment zones reform for its new equivalent.
You can use Stash or the NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer to find out more detailed zoning and LGA information for a single property. Stash can go a step further and just search for a particular zone in a certain suburb, like R2 within Wollongong. For height and floor space ratio controls, see Maximum Building Height and Floor Space Ratio in NSW.
QLD (Queensland)
I love our state (I’m true blue Queenslander), but don’t overly love the difference in codes (particularly sub-codes for places like Moreton Bay and Logan).
Queensland councils must use the standard zones listed in the state’s Planning Regulation 2017, such as Low density residential, Low-medium density residential, Medium density residential and Character residential. Each council can then split them into its own precincts. Brisbane, for example, uses Low density residential (LDR), Character residential with its CR1 Character and CR2 Infill housing precincts, Low-medium density residential (LMR, split into precincts), Medium density residential (MDR) and High density residential (HDR). Brisbane changed its Low-medium density residential rules from 18 September 2026, so check City Plan for the current rules. For more on Brisbane’s zones, see our Queensland town planner interview.
Brisbane City Council have a half decent mapping tool (City Plan online) to break down the codes in the Brisbane City area.
There are a whopping 77 LGAs (local government areas) in QLD. We won’t have enough mental capacity to outline these in detail here, but we’d recommend using Stash to help you return zones relevant to you for a particular suburb, or return the zone and LGA where a single property will be located.
VIC (Victoria)
Every Victorian council uses the same set of zones from the Victoria Planning Provisions, but the residential zones have been through a few overhauls, moving around zones, cutting and adding a fair few. Thankfully, Stash updates its zoning from government planning data, so you won’t need to worry too much about the exact details of these changes. Just use the search function and let the magic happen. You can look up the zone for any address on VicPlan, and for subdivision rules see Understanding Minimum Lot Size requirements in Victoria.
However, the most relevant zones you should be looking at in Victoria suburbs should be:
- RGZ – Residential Growth Zone
- GRZ – General Residential Zone
- NRZ – Neighbourhood Residential Zone
- C1Z – Commercial 1 Zone
- C2Z – Commercial 2 Zone
- LDRZ – Low Density Residential Zone
- MUZ – Mixed Use Zone
- TZ – Township Zone
- RLZ – Rural Living Zone
WA (Western Australia)
WA designed a deeper metric logic around their codes. Termed R-Codes, these codes will generally indicate the density of properties that are permitted per hectare of land.
For example, R30 would allow for roughly 30 dwellings per hectare, R40 for 40 dwellings per hectare, R60 for 60, etc. In practice, what matters is the site area each dwelling needs, which the Residential Design Codes Volume 1 set out in Table D. For single houses and grouped dwellings:
- R20 – minimum 350 m², average 450 m² per dwelling
- R30 – minimum 260 m², average 300 m² per dwelling
- R40 – minimum 180 m², average 220 m² per dwelling
- R60 – minimum 120 m², average 150 m² per dwelling
Multiple dwellings (apartments) have their own, smaller site areas in the coded areas that allow them, and the R-Codes allow some variations, so check the current R-Codes and your council’s local planning scheme for the site.
You can see this in action when you search Shenton Park, a hot property dev suburb in WA. This will give you a good indication for the most appropriate zone for townhouses, unit blocks and subdivision.
SA (South Australia)
SA used to be in the same boat as QLD, with every council running its own Development Plan. Since 19 March 2021, every council in South Australia uses one Planning and Design Code, so the zone names are now the same across the state. The residential zones you’ll see most are the General Neighbourhood, Suburban Neighbourhood, Housing Diversity Neighbourhood and Established Neighbourhood zones.
They have a fair few LGAs, so we’d recommend using Stash to find the particular zone and LGA you’re interested in based on suburb or a particular property.
Alternatively, the SA Government have their own mapping tool, the SA Property and Planning Atlas (SAPPA), which shows the zone and overlays for any property.
ACT (Australia Capital Territory)
We don’t mind ACT’s code logic – it’s fairly clear how they split their categories. The ACT’s new planning system and Territory Plan 2023 started on 27 November 2023, with the final Territory Plan in effect from 27 September 2024, and the residential zone codes stayed the same.
The most relevant for smaller~medium development would be the following residential zones:
- RZ1 – Suburban Zone
- RZ2 – Suburban Core Zone
- RZ3 – Urban Residential Zone
- RZ4 – Medium Density Residential Zone
- RZ5 – High Density Residential Zone
NT (Northern Territory)
There are a LOT of codes in the NT. Which we don’t mind – Stash can handle all of the codes and zones. Just pick a suburb or a single property, and off you go. The NT Planning Scheme 2020, in effect since 31 July 2020, renamed some of the main residential zones.
Though, the zones you may find most of interest will be:
- LR – Low Density Residential (formerly SD – Single Dwelling Residential)
- LMR – Low-Medium Density Residential (formerly MD – Multiple Dwelling Residential)
- MR – Medium Density Residential
- HR – High Density Residential
- RR – Rural Residential
- RL – Rural Living
- FD – Future Development
- CB – Central Business (permits some residential development)
TAS (Tasmania)
Tasmania now has a single Tasmanian Planning Scheme. The State Planning Provisions set 23 standard zones, and each council’s Local Provisions Schedule maps where they apply. It has been rolled out council by council, so check the Tasmanian Planning Scheme zones and your council’s schedule. The residential zones are:
- General Residential
- Inner Residential
- Low Density Residential
- Rural Living
Zoning changes over time, so always confirm the current zone and rules with the council or a town planner before you buy or build. Want more information on council zoning? Consult your local Town Planner, or drop us a line by clicking this email link.
This is the first article in a multi-part series designed to give people who are getting into the property development market a broad and tailored overview of Australian council zoning codes.
