Reference Data · New South Wales
Waverley DCP: the dwelling controls, as published.
5 controls for low-density residential — dwelling houses, taken from Waverley Development Control Plan 2022 — Part C Residential Development, Part C1 Low Density Residential Development. As at 2026-08-29.
NSW has no statewide dwelling setback or site-coverage standard. The LEP sets zone, height and FSR; the numbers that shape a build sit in each council's DCP — here, the 5 that Waverley publishes numerically. Anything its DCP assesses on merit rather than a fixed number is absent from this table: not a zero, and not a permission.
Waverley Council — published dwelling controls
| Control | Published value | Qualifier |
|---|---|---|
| Front setback | No fixed metre value: a new building or extension must extend no further than the front predominant building line, defined as the three adjacent neighbours on either side. Where there is no predominant line, assessed on merit. (Part C1 §1.2.1(a)) | Contextual control — the DCP states no fixed metre value |
| Side setback | 0.9 m | — |
| Rear setback | No fixed metre value: development must extend no further than the rear predominant building line, defined as the three adjacent neighbours on either side; the first floor and above must also set back from the ground-floor rear building line. (Part C1 §1.2.1(a)–(b)) | Contextual control — the DCP states no fixed metre value |
| Landscaped area | 20% | — |
| Private open space | 25 m² | — |
Source: Waverley Development Control Plan 2022 — Part C Residential Development, Part C1 Low Density Residential Development. Clauses: Part C1 §1.2 Setbacks (1.2.1 Front and rear building lines; 1.2.2 Side Setbacks + Table 1 Minimum side setbacks); §1.9 Landscaping and Open Space, controls (b)–(f). Open the source DCP.
Scope: R2 dwelling houses. These are the controls for R2, Waverley’s low-density residential zone. Do not apply these figures to a dual occupancy, duplex, secondary dwelling or multi-dwelling housing development — Waverley Development Control Plan 2022 — Part C Residential Development, Part C1 Low Density Residential Development sets those out separately, and Feasibly has not codified them.
What qualifies these Waverley controls?
- SETBACKS — front/rear are contextual, not numeric: development must not extend beyond the front and rear 'predominant building line' = the three adjacent neighbours on either side (C1 §1.2.1(a)); first floor and above must also set back from the ground-floor rear building line (§1.2.1(b)). front_setback_m and rear_setback_m therefore null.
- SIDE SETBACK — Table 1 (§1.2.2) is by storey: Ground Floor 0.9m, First Floor 0.9m, Second Floor 1.5m, Third Floor 'On merit'. Recorded side_setback_m=0.9 as the ground-floor minimum for a standard dwelling house. A brand-new three-storey structure must set back ALL floors 1.5m (§1.2.2(f)). Side setback may be reduced where it adjoins a neighbouring dwelling built to the shared boundary (§1.2.2(b)).
- LANDSCAPING/OPEN SPACE (§1.9): 20% of total site area as landscaped area (recorded in landscaped_flat_pct); of that, a minimum 50% must be deep soil zone (so landscaped_deep_soil=false — the 20% is 'landscaped area', deep soil is a sub-requirement). Separately, a minimum 40% of total site area must be provided as open space (no dedicated schema field). Front-of-building: 50% of the area between building and street must be open space, and 50% of that open space must be landscaped.
- PRIVATE OPEN SPACE — pos_min_sqm=25 (each dwelling, §1.9(e)). The 130m2 figure applies ONLY to each dwelling in a DETACHED DUAL OCCUPANCY (§1.9(f)), not a standard single dwelling house, so it is not recorded as the dwelling-house POS. No small-site reduced POS provision.
- SITE COVERAGE — no numeric site-coverage percentage or merit-area threshold is stated for Low Density Residential in Part C1; all site_coverage_* fields null.
- SECONDARY STREET / CORNER — no numeric secondary-street setback; corner lots 'take reference from the setbacks of dwellings on adjacent sites' (§1.2.1(c)). No general min-boundary setback control beyond the side-setback table.
- ZONE/SOURCE PROVENANCE — Part C1 governs Low Density Residential (R2). Values taken from the ADOPTED WDCP 2022 Part C. The live council host (www.waverley.nsw.gov.au) blocked all automated fetchers (Zyte 520, Firecrawl/WebFetch Cloudflare 403), so the clean adopted PDF was retrieved via the Wayback Machine snapshot dated 2025-10-11 (web.archive.org/web/20251011095551if_/https://www.waverley.nsw.gov.au/media/documents/building_and_development/dcp/dcp_2022/Waverley_DCP_2022_Part_C_-_Residential_Development.pdf). A YourSay S3 copy that also surfaced in search was a REDLINE DRAFT AMENDMENT (it renumbered Low Density from C1 to C2 and proposed changing landscaped area 20%->15% and a first-floor side setback 1.5m->0.9m); it was NOT used for any values.
Wondering how this compares with asking an AI to read the scheme? We wrote that up here.
How reliable is this Waverley DCP data?
These values were machine-extracted from the source DCP and have not been independently re-checked. Treat them as screening grade: good enough to compare councils and to know which questions to ask, not a substitute for reading the clause before you rely on it. This is a different and lower tier of confidence than our Victorian zone schedules, which are read and verified from the source planning scheme by a person. We do not present the two as equivalent.
A council's DCP can be amended at any time and this page reflects the document as at 2026-08-29. Where a control is absent above, the DCP either sets no number or assesses that parameter on merit.
This information is provided for research and preliminary screening only. It does not constitute professional planning, legal or architectural advice. Always verify with Waverley Council before making decisions.
Waverley planning controls — common questions
Do these Waverley controls apply to a duplex or dual occupancy?
No. The figures on this page are Waverley’s dwelling-house controls. A dual occupancy, duplex, secondary dwelling or multi-dwelling housing development is assessed under different standards, and Waverley Development Control Plan 2022 — Part C Residential Development, Part C1 Low Density Residential Development states them separately — Feasibly has not codified those, so do not apply the numbers above to one.
Which zone do these Waverley controls apply to?
R2 Low Density Residential — Waverley’s low-density residential zone. Confirmed against the zones the Waverley LEP actually contains. This page presents the low-density residential case; some DCP sections also cover other residential zones, and the source above names the zones it applies to.
What planning controls does Waverley Council publish for dwellings?
Waverley Council publishes 5 dwelling controls in Waverley Development Control Plan 2022 — Part C Residential Development, Part C1 Low Density Residential Development: front setback, side setback, rear setback, landscaped area, private open space. Some of these are stated as a rule rather than a fixed measurement — the DCP sets no metre value for front setback or rear setback. Each value and its clause reference is listed on this page, as at 2026-08-29.
Does NSW have a statewide dwelling setback standard?
No. The Local Environmental Plan sets zone, building height and floor space ratio, but the numbers that shape a dwelling — setbacks, site coverage, landscaped area and private open space — sit in each council’s Development Control Plan. That is why these figures are published per council rather than per state.
How reliable are these Waverley figures?
They are machine-extracted from Waverley Development Control Plan 2022 — Part C Residential Development, Part C1 Low Density Residential Development and have not been independently re-checked, so treat them as screening grade — good enough to compare councils and to know which questions to ask, not a substitute for reading the clause. This is a lower confidence tier than our Victorian schedules, which a person reads and verifies from the source scheme.
Do these controls apply to every property in Waverley?
No. These are the council-wide published figures for low-density residential — dwelling houses. The zone, any overlays and the consent triggers that actually apply depend on the individual parcel, and a control absent from this page means the DCP either sets no number or assesses that parameter on merit — not that the requirement is zero.
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