Where we build
Duplex builders in Canada Bay
Concord, Five Dock, Drummoyne and the peninsula suburbs. Knock down rebuilds and duplexes on the inner west's most valuable blocks, and a free written site assessment within two business days.
Canada Bay
Building a duplex in Canada Bay
Land in Concord and Five Dock is worth enough that a block which fails the rules by a metre is an expensive mistake. Under the ordinary local DA controls, an attached dual occupancy needs 450 square metres and 14 metres of width at the front building line. A detached pair needs 800 square metres and 17 metres, or 14 metres on a corner or parallel-road lot where each home fronts and is reached from a different road.
The State's Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy names the Concord town centre, Concord West, Drummoyne, Five Dock and North Strathfield. On eligible land within 800 metres' walk of one of those, 450 square metres and 12 metres of width may satisfy the State's duplex DA standards. North Strathfield Metro is a transport oriented development station, and the State policy does not apply inside mapped TOD areas. Heritage conservation areas can rule out complying development even where a DA is possible, so we check the heritage maps for every address.
We are taking on more work in the inner west and do not yet have a completed home in Canada Bay. Our Ryde custom home, in delivery, is the closest project, and the approach is the one we use everywhere: measure the frontage, check the heritage and flood layers, and settle the approval pathway before anyone pays for drawings. The council's average DA assessment time was 62 days in the NSW council league table for June 2026, the fastest of the councils on this site.
Suburbs we cover include Concord, Concord West, North Strathfield, Five Dock, Drummoyne, Russell Lea, Abbotsford, Chiswick, Wareemba, Canada Bay, Mortlake and Cabarita.
Artist's impressionAt a glance
- Where duplexes are permitted
- R1, R2 and R3 under the council's controls
- Council minimum lot
- Attached: 450 square metres and 14 metres wide. Detached: 800 square metres and 17 metres, or 14 metres on a qualifying corner or parallel-road lot
- Low and Mid-Rise Housing areas
- Within 800 metres' walk of the Concord town centre, Concord West, Drummoyne, Five Dock or North Strathfield. On eligible land, 450 square metres and 12 metres may satisfy the State's duplex DA standards; not inside the North Strathfield Metro TOD area
- Complying development
- At least 450 (attached) or 800 (detached) square metres and normally 15 metres at the building line, or 12 metres where parking is reached only from a secondary road, parallel road or lane; not on excluded land such as heritage conservation areas
- Two titles
- A separate approval from building the two homes. We check Torrens or strata for your address
- Council assessment time
- Average 62 days, NSW council league table, June 2026
The State rules
How the State rules sit beside the council's
The rules come in layers, and they are easy to mix up. The first question is whether a duplex is permitted at all. Since 1 July 2024 dual occupancies have been permitted with consent in the R2 zone across NSW, and a council's LEP can permit them in other zones. That settles the land use only. It does not mean a particular block is big enough, wide enough or free of constraints.
Outside the State's mapped areas, the council's own minimum lot size and frontage apply to a development application. Since February 2025 the State's Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy has added a second test. On eligible land within 800 metres' walking distance of a nominated station entrance or the mapped edge of a nominated town centre, a council cannot refuse a duplex DA for lot size or width if the block is at least 450 square metres and 12 metres wide at the front building line, with a floor space ratio up to 0.65:1, a height up to 9.5 metres and one parking space per home. The rest of the controls and the merits of the design still apply, so it is not automatic approval. The walk is measured along a safe public route, so the policy never covers a whole suburb. It does not apply inside transport oriented development areas, or on excluded land such as bushfire prone land, specified high-risk flood land, heritage items, high aircraft-noise land, coastal wetland and vulnerability areas, and land within 200 metres of specified dangerous-goods pipelines.
Complying development is a separate test again. Under the Low-Rise Housing Diversity Code the lot must be at least 400 square metres or the council's own duplex minimum, whichever is greater, and normally 15 metres wide at the building line, or 12 metres where parking is reached only from a secondary road, parallel road or lane. A block can fail complying development and still suit a DA, or meet the State's DA standards without qualifying for complying development. Separate titles are a separate approval as well.
Custom homes too
Not every block wants a duplex
The same site assessment tells you whether a single custom home or a knock down rebuild is the better use of the block. We build both, and we would rather say so early than push a duplex onto a site that suits one good home.
Projects nearby
Our nearest current projects
We do not yet have a completed home in Canada Bay. Our Ryde custom home is the closest project in delivery, and the Caringbah duplex is the nearest duplex.
How it runs
How a project runs
Test the site
Planning, frontage, access, services and the likely approval path, checked before design is fixed.
Set the brief and budget
Agree what matters, where to spend and what the project needs to achieve.
Design and price together
Architecture, engineering, selections and trade pricing move together, so the price is known before the contract.
Build from a settled scope
One program and one site team, with a weekly update and variations priced and signed before the work.
Common questions about duplexes in Canada Bay
My Concord block is 13 metres wide. Can I build a duplex?
Under the ordinary local controls an attached duplex needs 14 metres at the front building line. If the block is on eligible land within 800 metres' walk of the Concord town centre, Concord West, Drummoyne, Five Dock or North Strathfield, 450 square metres and 12 metres may satisfy the State's DA standards instead, outside TOD areas and excluded land. We check the mapping for your address.
What does a detached pair need in Canada Bay?
800 square metres and 17 metres under the local controls, or 14 metres on a corner or parallel-road lot where each home fronts and is reached from a different road.
Is complying development possible in Concord or Drummoyne?
Only where the block and design meet every standard in the Low-Rise Housing Diversity Code, including the council minimum and normally 15 metres at the building line, and the land is not excluded. Heritage conservation areas are one exclusion, and inside them the project is a DA.
Can I get two separate titles?
Subdivision is its own approval, separate from approval to build the two homes. Whether Torrens or strata is available depends on the lot and the controls that apply to it, so we check it for your address rather than promise it.
Planning facts on this page were checked on 29 September 2026 against the Canada Bay Local Environmental Plan 2013, Council's LEP and DCP controls, the Housing SEPP, the Codes SEPP and the NSW Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy. They are a guide, not a guarantee for any property. Controls change and exclusions apply, so we confirm them for your address as part of the free site assessment. This page is general information, not planning advice or an approval.
Tell us the address of your block in Canada Bay.
Send the address and what you want to build. Within two business days you will have a written site assessment and a clear next step.