Council guide · NSW

Ku-ring-gai Council

What a house block can carry in Ku-ring-gai Council's area — the dual-occupancy minimums, the granny-flat rule and the C4 controls, read from the Ku-ring-gai Local Environmental Plan 2015 on legislation.nsw.gov.au, and whether the state Low and Mid-Rise rules reach here.

not in R2dual occupancy under the LEP

1,015 m²inside the Low and Mid-Rise area

60 m² or 25%granny flat (the greater)

Dual occupancy (two homes on one lot)

Dual occupancies are not in the R2 land-use table of the Ku-ring-gai LEP, so outside the state Low and Mid-Rise catchment they are not permitted; inside it, cl 4.1A (inserted 2025) sets 1,015 m² and a split into two titles needs 507.5 m² per lot (cl 4.1B) — a planner confirms how the state rule and the LEP figure interact on your lot.

Secondary dwelling (granny flat)

Ku-ring-gai LEP cl 5.4(9) — the greater of 60 m² or 25% of the house’s total floor area, parking excluded. Under the state Housing SEPP a granny flat of up to 60 m² can also go through the ten-day complying-development route on a lot of 450 m² or more, with a 12 m frontage, where the land is not flood, bushfire or heritage constrained.

C4 Environmental Living

In the C4 Environmental Living zone: a house is permitted; no dual occupancy; a secondary dwelling is permitted; no semi-detached pairs. The state Low and Mid-Rise rules do not apply in C4.

Low and Mid-Rise

Inside the state Low and Mid-Rise area — within about an 800 m walk of a listed town centre or station — the Housing SEPP overrides the LEP minimums above: a dual occupancy on 450 m² with a 12 m frontage, terraces on 500 m² / 18 m, townhouses on 600 m² / 12 m and a manor house on 500 m² / 12 m, up to 9.5 m high. Block Checker reads the centre layer on the Planning Portal and tells you which side of the line your lot sits. Bushfire-prone, flood-control and heritage land is carved out and falls back to the LEP.

Constraints that change the answer

Bushfire-prone land (RFS map), flood-control lots, heritage items and conservation areas, and landslip risk all take a lot out of the fast-track routes and into a full DA. Easements, covenants and sewer mains are not on the public maps — a title search and a Sydney Water or council water check are always needed.

Approval routes

Complying development (CDC) — a private certifier issues it in days where the design meets every state standard; no neighbour notification.
Pattern Book — the NSW pre-approved designs, ten-day approval, subject to survey (slope) and the site tests.
Development application (DA) — lodged with Ku-ring-gai Council through the NSW Planning Portal; weeks to months, neighbours notified, merit assessment against the LEP and DCP.

Useful links: krg.nsw.gov.au · NSW Planning Portal (lodge a DA or CDC, spatial viewer) · legislation.nsw.gov.au (search the LEP by name).

A residential street in Ku-ring-gai Council's area — **Suburbs** — **East Killara**, **East Lindfield**, **Gordon**, **Killara**, **Lindfield**, **North Turramurra**, **North Wahroonga**, **Pymble**, **Roseville**, **Roseville Chase**, **South Turramurra**, **St Ives**, **St Ives Chase**, **Turramurra**, **Wahroonga**, **Warrawee**, **West Pymble**.