Low and Mid-Rise Housing
The LMR Policy can change permissibility and development standards near nominated centres. It is not an approval and it is not the same thing as the NSW Housing Pattern Book.
What the policy changed
The NSW Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy introduced planning controls intended to allow more low-rise and mid-rise housing near nominated town centres and stations. The official explanation is on the NSW Planning LMR page.
Low-rise versus mid-rise
Low-rise housing in this policy setting includes dual occupancies, terraces and manor houses in nominated areas. Mid-rise housing is a different building form and generally a different approval pathway. Exclusive Certifiers’ certification services are limited to class 1 and 10 buildings. Mid-rise certification is not sold on this website.
Inner and outer catchments
LMR controls are organised around inner and outer catchments. The inner catchment is closer to the nominated centre or station. The outer catchment sits beyond that. Which standards apply depends on where the site sits in those mapped catchments, not on a marketing label.
The 800-metre walking-distance concept
NSW describes walking-distance catchments, commonly discussed as 800 metres from a nominated station or centre. Walking distance is a mapped planning concept. This page does not calculate walking distance for a specific address.
Zones
LMR standards interact with the land-use zone that already applies to the lot. Zoning, overlays and local controls still matter. A zone that appears residential on a map is not a determination that a particular dual occupancy, terrace or manor house can be certified as complying development.
Exclusions
Heritage, flooding, bushfire, transport corridors, biodiversity and other mapped constraints can take a site out of a complying pathway even where LMR standards appear helpful. Always obtain current property information before treating LMR as relevant.
LMR is not itself an approval
LMR can affect permissibility and development standards. It does not approve a building. Approval still comes through a development application, a standard CDC, a Low-Rise Housing Diversity Code CDC, or a Pattern Book CDC where that pathway is available.
DA versus standard CDC versus Pattern Book CDC
A DA is assessed by council. A standard CDC or Low-Rise Housing Diversity Code CDC is assessed against the codes that apply to the site-specific design. A Pattern Book CDC is available only for an endorsed low-rise pattern that meets the Pattern Book requirements. Exclusive Certifiers can assess class 1 and 10 CDC and CC applications; it does not determine a DA.
Class 1 and 10 limitation
If a proposal moves into a building class outside class 1 and 10, Exclusive Certifiers cannot certify it. That includes many mid-rise apartment forms.
Riverwood
Exclusive Certifiers’ confirmed public office is in Riverwood. Nearby centres are often discussed in LMR catchment conversations. That does not mean every Riverwood lot is inside an LMR catchment or eligible for a CDC.
Official sources
Related services
Prefer the Pattern Book service page? NSW Pattern Book CDC.
