Permitted use
Permitted use is whether a proposed land use is allowed (with or without consent) or prohibited in a lot's zone, the gate before any development standard is considered.
Ask Chalkline about this →Permitted use is whether a proposed land use is allowed in a lot’s zone, and on what terms, under the planning instrument’s land-use table. It is the first gate in planning: if the use is prohibited in the zone, no amount of meeting the development standards (height, FSR, setbacks) will get it approved.
The land-use table for a zone (in the LEP in NSW, the planning scheme elsewhere) sorts every use into three buckets:
- Permitted without consent: allowed as of right, no development application needed for the use itself.
- Permitted with consent: allowed, but only with a development approval.
- Prohibited: not allowed in that zone at all.
So the order of questions for any site is: what zone is it, is my use permitted in that zone, and only then, does my design meet the standards. People skip the first two and design straight to the controls, which is how a feasibility dies late when the intended use turns out to be prohibited (a shop in a low-density residential zone, a boarding house where it is not permitted, a second dwelling where dual occupancy is prohibited).
For a builder or developer the practical point is to confirm permissibility before anything else. Check the zone and read the land-use table for the exact use you intend (the definitions matter: “dwelling house” vs “dual occupancy” vs “secondary dwelling” are different uses with different permissibility). A use that is prohibited is a hard stop; a use permitted only with consent tells you a DA is required. Establishing permitted use first saves designing a scheme the zone will never allow.
Also known as: Permissibility, land-use permissibility.
Category: Planning / Use.
Related
See also
References
- Permitted uses and zoning (Chalkline) (verified 2026-06-04)
Last updated: 2026-06-04. Verified: 2026-06-04. Quarterly review for currency.