R4 High Density Residential zone in NSW

What the zone is for

Every council that uses R4 includes these objectives, word for word. They come from the Standard Instrument, the template all NSW council plans are built on:

• To provide for the housing needs of the community within a high density residential environment.
• To provide a variety of housing types within a high density residential environment.
• To enable other land uses that provide facilities or services to meet the day to day needs of residents.

25 of the 30 LEPs add objectives of their own, so the full list for a property depends on its council.

Can you build a house in R4?

A dwelling house is allowed in 19 of the 30 LEPs that use R4 (with consent in 19). It is prohibited in 11.

Whether a particular lot can take a house also depends on rules mapped to that lot, such as the minimum lot size, so check the address before relying on this.

Allowed in most councils (18)

Each number is a count of LEPs, not properties. No consent needed means the use itself doesn’t need a development application. With consent means it does. Can’t say is not a ban: either that council has no rule for the use, or it is a broad term whose types the table treats differently, so it depends on the type of project.

Councils differ (33)

These uses are allowed by some councils that use R4 and prohibited by others, so the answer depends on which council the land is in.

Prohibited in most councils (63)

Most of the LEPs that use R4 prohibit these, either by naming them or through the catch-all rule below.

State policy also applies here

NSW state policy allows secondary dwellings in R1 to R5 zones wherever a house is allowed, whatever the council’s own table says. The counts here are the councils’ tables only. See the rules.

Uses the table doesn’t name

Every council’s table ends with a rule for anything it hasn’t listed. 22 of the 30 LEPs prohibit any use their R4 table doesn’t name. The other 8 allow such uses with consent.

That is why a use can be counted as prohibited above in more councils than actually name it.

What the zone doesn’t tell you

• Lot size, height and floor space are set on the LEP maps for each property, so they vary within the same zone.
• Heritage, flood and bushfire mapping can limit what is possible on a lot even where the zone allows it.
• State policies can apply as well as the council’s table. Granny flats are dealt with under the Housing SEPP, and small works such as sheds can be exempt development under the Codes SEPP. See the NSW granny flat rules and NSW shed rules.

An address search shows all of this for one property.

Council LEPs that use R4 (30)

Some councils have more than one LEP, each covering part of the area.

• Bayside LEP 2021
• Blacktown LEP 2015
• Campbelltown LEP 2015
• Canada Bay LEP 2013
• Canterbury-Bankstown LEP 2023
• Coffs Harbour LEP 2013
• Cumberland LEP 2021
• Fairfield LEP 2013
• Georges River LEP 2021
• Great Lakes LEP 2014
• Hornsby LEP 2013
• Inner West LEP 2022
• Ku-ring-gai LEP 2015
• Lake Macquarie LEP 2014
• Lane Cove LEP 2009
• Liverpool LEP 2008
• Nambucca LEP 2010
• Newcastle LEP 2012
• North Sydney LEP 2013
• Parramatta LEP 2023
• Penrith LEP 2010
• Port Macquarie-Hastings LEP 2011
• Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional LEP 2022
• Ryde LEP 2014
• Strathfield LEP 2012
• Sutherland Shire LEP 2015
• The Hills LEP 2019
• Waverley LEP 2012
• Willoughby LEP 2012
• Wollongong LEP 2009

Land zoned under a State Environmental Planning Policy rather than a council LEP, such as some growth precincts, isn’t included in these counts.

Frequently asked questions