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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Guides
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 →Building near a sewer
Peg-outs, piers and encasement, habitable studios, neighbours and the Sydney Water costs that sit on top of the quote.
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.
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