Reference Data · New South Wales
Wollongong DCP: the dwelling controls, as published.
8 controls for low-density residential — dwelling houses, taken from Wollongong DCP 2009 — Chapter B1: Residential Development (Part B – Land Use Based Controls; updated 14 December 2016), Section 4 General Residential Controls. 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 8 that Wollongong 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.
Wollongong, City of — published dwelling controls
| Control | Published value | Qualifier |
|---|---|---|
| Front setback | 6 m | Infill sites: min 6 m from front boundary to front facade (may be less than 6 m where prevailing street character permits and future desired character is not prejudiced, via Site & Context Analysis). Greenfield sites: min 4 m. Garages/carports: min 5.5 m. |
| Secondary street setback | 3 m | — |
| Side setback | 0.9 m | — |
| Minimum boundary setback | 0.9 m | — |
| Rear setback | 0.9 m | — |
| Site coverage | 55% ≤450 m² → 50% ≤900 m² → 40% | — |
| Landscaped area | 20% ≤600 m² | — |
| Private open space | 24 m² | — |
Source: Wollongong DCP 2009 — Chapter B1: Residential Development (Part B – Land Use Based Controls; updated 14 December 2016), Section 4 General Residential Controls. Clauses: 4.1 Number of Storeys; 4.2 Front Setbacks; 4.3 Side and Rear Setbacks; 4.4 Site Coverage; 4.5 Landscaped Area; 4.6 Private Open Space. Open the source DCP.
Scope: R2 dwelling houses. These are the controls for R2, Wollongong’s low-density residential zone. Do not apply these figures to a dual occupancy, duplex, secondary dwelling or multi-dwelling housing development — those are assessed under different standards, which Feasibly has not codified.
What qualifies these Wollongong controls?
- Front setback recorded is the infill standard (6 m); greenfield sites = 4 m; garages/carports = 5.5 m; may be less than 6 m where prevailing street character permits (Site & Context Analysis).
- Side/rear setback: walls min 900 mm (0.9 m) from any side OR rear boundary (recorded as side/rear/min-boundary); eaves/gutters min 450 mm. Walls/gable ends/parapets over 7 m overall height must be min 3 m from side & rear boundaries. Walls over 8 m length not considered for a side-setback variation.
- R2-specific rear control: development within the 8 m rear setback is limited to single storey — i.e. two-storey portions must sit ≥8 m from the rear boundary, while single-storey/ground floor may go to the 900 mm minimum. rear_setback_m=0.9 is the absolute minimum wall setback; the 8 m figure governs the upper storey only.
- secondary_street_setback_m=3 is the corner-allotment secondary building line minimum (garages min 5.5 m from the secondary road boundary).
- Site coverage tiers are flat %-of-lot and monotonically decreasing (55/50/40). Excludes basements, street-adjoining awnings, eaves, and unenclosed balconies/decks/pergolas.
- Landscaped area is tiered but only the <600 m² tier is a flat % (20% of site). The 600–900 m² and >900 m² tiers are base-plus-marginal FORMULAS, not flat %: 600–900 m² = 120 m² + 30% of site area over 600 m²; >900 m² = 210 m² + 40% of site area over 900 m². Only the flat 20% tier is recorded in landscaped_tiers per the no-formula-as-%-rule. Landscaped area is defined as a permeable area (no building/structure/hard paved area); ≥50% must be behind the primary-road building line.
- Private open space: 24 m² min, directly accessible from living areas, min width 4 m, grade no steeper than 1:50. No small-site reduction stated.
- R2 Low Density height: max 9 m / 2 storeys.
- Access: the DCP PDF is behind a Cloudflare JS challenge that blocked the Zyte helper (520), WebFetch (403) and Firecrawl; fetched the exact PDF bytes via a real browser (Playwright) that passed the challenge, then pdftotext -layout. Document title: 'Chapter B1 - Residential Development updated 14 December 2016'.
Wondering how this compares with asking an AI to read the scheme? We wrote that up here.
How reliable is this Wollongong 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 Wollongong, City of before making decisions.
Wollongong planning controls — common questions
Do these Wollongong controls apply to a duplex or dual occupancy?
No. The figures on this page are Wollongong’s dwelling-house controls. A dual occupancy, duplex, secondary dwelling or multi-dwelling housing development is assessed under different standards — Feasibly has not codified those, so do not apply the numbers above to one.
Which zone do these Wollongong controls apply to?
R2 Low Density Residential — Wollongong’s low-density residential zone. Confirmed against the zones the Wollongong 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 Wollongong, City of publish for dwellings?
Wollongong, City of publishes 8 dwelling controls in Wollongong DCP 2009 — Chapter B1: Residential Development (Part B – Land Use Based Controls; updated 14 December 2016), Section 4 General Residential Controls: front setback, secondary street setback, side setback, minimum boundary setback, rear setback, site coverage, landscaped area, private open space. 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 Wollongong figures?
They are machine-extracted from Wollongong DCP 2009 — Chapter B1: Residential Development (Part B – Land Use Based Controls; updated 14 December 2016), Section 4 General Residential Controls 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 Wollongong?
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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