By Phil Herrick

A move to make it easier to build a second house on an existing block of residential land has been launched by the Eurobodalla Shire Council.

If approved, many property owners in the R2 residential zone, which covers most of the shire’s urban areas, will be able to more easily split their block of land for a dual occupancy development, increasing the density of houses in towns and villages in the shire.

The key change proposed is to allow the new lot to be created with a Torrens Title. At the moment, the only way residential lots can be split for dual occupancy is by creating a strata subdivision.

Strata title means that there are multiple owners of properties on one piece of land and all owners are responsible for the common areas. Torrens title, also known as freehold, means there is just one owner of the land and building. It is the standard title in NSW for residential land.

The change in the rules will only apply to lots with a minimum size of 550 square metres in the R2 Low Density Residential Zone. It will allow a subdivision down to 300 square metres with one dwelling allowed on each lot.

The council hopes the changes will encourage residential development in urban areas with existing services and utilities, minimise the demand for new land releases and help increase housing affordability and variety in the shire.

At its meeting last Tuesday, the council voted unanimously to move ahead with the plan.

The next steps are to send the draft proposal to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure with a request to issue a Gateway Determination. If that is given, public consultation on the proposed amendments will be begin.