CDC or DA: which approval do you need?
The question every NSW project starts with. What decides the pathway, and what closes the faster one.
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Granny flat rules in NSW
How big, what block you need, and why the 60 m² figure everyone repeats is a default rather than an answer.
Read the guide →Dual occupancy rules in NSW
Where duplexes are now permissible, the lot width that kills most sites, and whether you can subdivide afterwards.
Read the guide →Renovating and extending in NSW
When you need approval, which code applies, and the floor area calculation that decides most extensions.
Read the guide →Unauthorised and undocumented building work
What to do about work built without approval, and what a building information certificate does and does not fix.
Read the guide →What your budget actually buys in Sydney's south (2026)
Six rungs from under $50k to $1.4m, all-in and before land. Granny flat, extension, second storey, new home, duplex.
Read the guide →Why a slow market is the time to lodge a difficult DA
A consent lasts five years and councils are at 63–83 days. Where the nine months go, and why the tricky ones should start now.
Read the guide →The 2026 Budget changes, decoded
Negative gearing for new builds only, the CGT discount replaced from July 2027, rates at 4.35%. What it does to a feasibility. Not tax advice.
Read the guide →Small projects that hold their value in a slow market
Granny flat by CDC, alts and adds by CDC, subdividing a dual occ, a BIC, a change of use, or buying the approval for the big one.
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Articles
We've also written a few hundred shorter pieces over the years on specific controls, cost questions, reform changes and individual project types.
Start with the site, not the plans
Send us the address. We'll tell you what it can carry before you commit to anything.