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Understanding R-Codes
You have decided that you want to subdivide your existing property after seeing similar subdivision developments on your street. Having only a limited understanding of the process you would like to achieve the following:
- You want to keep the existing house most likely in the front
- You want to create a new lot at the rear with the intention of selling
- You want to create a new driveway which will allow access to the rear lot
The first and most important step is working out whether you have the available land area to allow you to split the existing lot into 2 or more subdivided lots. This is the first instance where the R-Code and Zoning become important.
Minimum Land Size for Subdivision
Remember this important point before we begin! You must always have the number of lots multiplied by the “Average Area” for the zoning of your area. If you are in an R20 area which has an average area in the R-Codes of 450m2 and you intend to create 2 lots, this means you will require a total minimum area of 900m2. You can potentially reduce this requirement by up to 5% and this will be subject to WAPC assessment. Once you meet this starting area will then be able to utilise the “Minimum Area” requirement which in an R20 zoned area is 350m2. The absolute minimum lot size on this development can be no lower than 350m2.
Find Your Lot and Zoning Using INTRAMAPS
The easiest way of finding out your lot area and zoning is by using INTRAMAPS. This is a free online mapping system which is used by most local authorities to display town planning information relevant to properties in that district. For this exercise we will use an address in the City of Stirling.
- Step 1 Type keywords in Google “City of Stirling Intramaps”.
- Step 2 Select INTRAMAPS or obvious mapping link.
- Step 3 Start Mapping System
- Step 4 Enter Street Address (Bottom)
- Step 5 Check Zoning and Lot Area in Properties box on Right (or) Left depending on authority website.
- Step 6 If we take House Number (0) as an example we get an area of 1067 m2 and the Residential Zoning is R20
- Step 7 The next step is to check your acquired information against the R-Code Table 1 from WAPC (page 59 on the 2015 edition).
- Step 8 We now know we are investigating a lot with a zoning of R20 and it has an area of 1067m2. The minimum lot area of your lot needs to be 900m² if it is R20. We can now calculate that we are 167m² over the required area of 900m².
We now know that we can technically subdivide assuming you meet the rest of the criteria to create the lots. - Step 9 You will now need to contact a Land Surveyor to take the next step and receive additional consultation.
NOTE: The above example only covers a small section of the overall assessment of whether a property can be subdivided or not. Many other factors need to be considered regarding the proposed Subdivision lot design. Consulting with our experienced team will guarantee you receive the right information improving the chances of you obtaining conditional approval for you Subdivision Application.
