Council guide / City of Sydney
Most houses here share a wall, face a conservation street or back onto a lane. Those three facts shape what can change. This guide sets out how the council's rules work before you plan a terrace addition or a new home.
CONWAY / Randwick / Completed 2025
01 / The proposition
We work as builders for owners in the City of Sydney council area, where heritage terraces, semis and the detached houses of the Rosebery Estate all answer to one local plan yet end up with very different briefs. Sydney LEP 2012 and Sydney DCP 2012 cover nearly all of it. A few precincts, such as Green Square and the harbour sites around Barangaroo, carry plans of their own.
The housing is unusual for Sydney. Census counts from 2021 put apartments at 78.5% of the area's occupied homes, with only 2.1% recorded as separate houses. Terraces, semis and townhouses were 18.3%. That attached stock shapes most house projects in this council area.
We design and build whole homes, additions and renovations. We also build projects that independent architects have designed.
Getting oriented
First, confirm the council. Parts of Rosebery fall in Bayside and parts of Camperdown in Inner West, while part of Paddington is City of Sydney land. Second, find out if the lot falls inside one of the 75 conservation areas listed in the local plan. Third, look at the rear: a lane often decides how materials arrive, where a car can go and whether a studio is possible.
We do not yet have a published project inside this council area. Three completed examples of our work nearby, in Rozelle, Darling Point and Randwick, are shown further down.
Select a pin or drag to explore
Map data: Esri, HERE, Garmin · © OpenStreetMap contributors
Darling Point · residential
Five apartments arranged around Sydney Harbour views, with two basement levels. Completed in 2021, with architecture and interiors by Xpace.
What the council's plans say
The local plan maps height and floor space property by property and sets no minimum lot size. Mapped values shift between streets, so we check the maps and DCP lot by lot instead of copying numbers from next door.
Roughly seven in ten sampled residential points sat in a conservation area. In those areas the Housing Code cannot deliver a complying development certificate for new homes or additions, other than swimming pools, outbuildings and certain other detached structures. Most terrace additions will need a development application.
For heritage areas, the DCP says a new storey must not be visible above the existing ridge or parapet on the main street frontage. Where the backs of a terrace row form a consistent group seen from a public place, additions are limited to the ground floor.
The DCP does not allow car access across the front boundary for terraces or homes in conservation areas. A basement garage for a single dwelling needs rear lane access. The local plan caps parking rather than requiring it.
The NSW flood planning map layer shows no features here, yet the council runs studies across eight catchments covering 2,666 hectares. Its flood policy places habitable floors a margin above the 1% flood level. A site flood study can also be required.
How a City project runs
Attached houses lean on next door for structure. That shared wall is on our agenda at the outset since it affects the design, the approval and the building program.
We confirm the council, the zone, any conservation area or heritage listing and the grading the council gives the building on its contributions map.
Each addition is tested against the rear alignment of the row and the existing roof profile. Where a second level is wanted, we test whether it would show above the ridge or parapet from the street.
We find out which of the council's flood catchments covers the street and whether a flood study, a structural report for excavation or acid sulfate testing is needed.
Lane access, neighbour protection and material storage on a narrow lot are built into the price and program so nothing is improvised later.
Where we fit
You can come to us with a terrace or semi ready to grow or with a finished set of plans.
One team carries the job from first sketches through documents, consent and the build. It suits owners who want a single point of responsibility for how the design meets the council's heritage and storey rules.
Share the latest drawings and any council conditions. We review the construction detail, party wall work and access plan, then price the scope with the investigations still outstanding named clearly.
Explore our work
![[ CONWAY ]](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d6zothxp/production/2d97a9f91a0ab8f0b518d100bd9533913643b8d6-1600x1067.png?w=1600&q=82&auto=format)
Randwick
Completed 2025
A Federation residence in Randwick, restored and extended, completed in 2025. Architecture and interiors are by Tina Kosta Studio and SHORE built it. Randwick is about 3.4 kilometres from Rosebery in a straight line between the calculated centres of the two suburb areas.
![[ CLAY ]](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d6zothxp/production/8b375447c1631dcec5102331f29538a04e90145e-4219x2835.jpg?w=3072&q=82&auto=format)
Rozelle, NSW
Completed 2022
A concrete home in Rozelle completed in 2022 with architecture by Oikos. SHORE handled the interiors and facade and built the house. Rozelle is about 1.9 kilometres from Glebe in a straight line between the calculated centres of the two suburb areas.
![[ ALOFT ]](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/d6zothxp/production/139a0cd6e022d351e59ba160149d6813474e7e16-2048x1373.webp?w=2048&q=82&auto=format)
Darling Point, NSW
Completed 2021
Five harbour apartments in Darling Point completed in 2021. Xpace designed the architecture and interiors and SHORE built the building. Darling Point is about 0.9 kilometres from Elizabeth Bay in a straight line between the calculated centres of the two suburb areas.
28 suburbs
The service map files these 28 names under this council: Alexandria, Barangaroo, Beaconsfield, Camperdown, Chippendale, Darlinghurst, Darlington, Dawes Point, Elizabeth Bay, Erskineville, Eveleigh, Forest Lodge, Glebe, Haymarket, Millers Point, Moore Park, Potts Point, Pyrmont, Redfern, Rosebery, Rushcutters Bay, Surry Hills, Sydney, The Rocks, Ultimo, Waterloo, Woolloomooloo and Zetland.
Several are mainly commercial, civic or parkland, so house work there is uncommon. Camperdown and Rosebery cross into neighbouring councils. Tell us the property and we will check which plan applies before anything is drawn.
Questions to bring early
Sometimes, though the street view is usually the limit. Within a heritage area the new level must not show above the existing ridge or parapet from the main street. Additional storeys are generally not supported where the terrace belongs to an intact group or the extra height would compromise the area's character.
Often. For a house in the Rosebery Estate, the DCP keeps a single storey look within 14 metres of the front boundary and allows an attic further back, with site coverage of 50% on regular lots. Dual occupancy needs a front boundary over 12 metres and must be attached so it reads as one house. Part of Rosebery also sits in Bayside, so we check the council first.
For new residential accommodation, the DCP excludes indoor gas appliances from applications lodged after 31 December 2025. From applications lodged after 31 December 2026, new homes must not be connected to gas at all and need room and electrical capacity for electric cooking, heating and hot water. We design services to suit from the outset.
Often, if the lot and the lane allow it. The DCP allows a one storey building with an attic beside a rear lane up to 5.4 metres high. Lots under 150 square metres must keep 16 square metres of open space for the main house. Inside heritage areas the studio has to respect the house's significance and the lane's existing scale.
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