Dual occupancy · Port Macquarie-Hastings Council

Duplexes in Port Macquarie-Hastings

What a house block in Port Macquarie-Hastings Council's area needs before it can carry two homes: the LEP minimum (no LEP minimum), whether the state 450 m² / 12 m Low and Mid-Rise rule reaches here, and how the two homes can be titled. Read from the LEP text; the address check applies it to your lot.

The minimums under the LEP

no minimumlot size for a dual occupancy

no minimumfrontage

Port Macquarie-Hastings LEP sets no minimum lot size or frontage for a dual occupancy — attached pairs only in R2, judged on Council's DCP; the Lot Size Map governs any split into two titles; outside the state Low and Mid-Rise area.

Low and Mid-Rise

Outside the Six Cities region. The state Low and Mid-Rise rules do not reach Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, so the LEP figures above and Council's DCP are the whole test for a dual occupancy.

Can I split it into two titles?

The state split rule — two lots of 225 m², each 6 m wide (Housing SEPP s 169) — only applies inside the Low and Mid-Rise area, and that area does not reach Port Macquarie-Hastings Council. Here the council decides. Under the LEP: the Lot Size Map governs any split into two titles.

Getting it approved

A DA to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council is the universal route and the only one on heritage or constrained lots. A CDC from a private certifier under the Low Rise Housing Diversity Code fast-tracks a code-compliant pair (the greater of 400 m² and the council minimum, and 15 m at the building line — 12 m only where the parking comes off a lane or secondary road, no heritage, no bushfire). The Pattern Book pathway uses a pre-approved NSW design on a level lot that meets its tests — subject to survey (slope). Splitting the pair onto two titles is covered above.

What catches owners out here

Frontage at the building line — the state rule measures width where the homes sit, not at the kerb; a splayed block can lose a metre.
Just under — 449 m² is not 450 m². The area shown is the deposited-plan area; a registered survey settles it.
Constraints — bushfire-prone, flood-control and heritage land takes the lot out of the state rules and the fast-track routes and back to the LEP figures and a DA.
Easements and sewer — not on the public maps; order the section 10.7 certificate and the sewer diagram before you design.

Questions owners ask

What is the minimum lot size for a duplex in Port Macquarie-Hastings?

The Port Macquarie-Hastings LEP sets no minimum lot size for a dual occupancy; the Development Control Plan and the Lot Size Map decide it. The state Low and Mid-Rise rule does not reach this council, so the LEP figure stands everywhere.

Can I build a duplex on a 450 m² block in Port Macquarie-Hastings?

Not under the state rule, which does not apply here. Whether the LEP or DCP allows it depends on the block; the address check reads the zone and the maps.

Can I subdivide a duplex in Port Macquarie-Hastings into two titles?

The LEP and its Lot Size Map decide; there is no state override here.

Do I need a DA for a duplex in Port Macquarie-Hastings?

A DA to Port Macquarie-Hastings Council is the universal route. A code-compliant pair on a clear lot can go through a private certifier as a CDC under the Low Rise Housing Diversity Code, and a level lot that meets the tests can use a Pattern Book design, subject to survey.

More: the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council guide (granny flats, C4, links) · granny flats in Port Macquarie-Hastings · duplex rules across NSW · the Low and Mid-Rise policy · the Pattern Book.

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