Subdividing Your Property

This page provides a summary of the requirements and processes of subdividing property within the City of Kwinana. There are three types of subdivisions;

• Freehold (Green Title) Lots
• Strata Lots
• Survey Strata Lots

Freehold (green title), survey strata or strata subdivision - what's the difference?

Freehold 

Freehold (green title) lots are the most common form of lots within the City of Kwinana. They are individually identified, totally independent from one another and owned in fee simple, the greatest estate that a person can hold without being the absolute power, which in the case of Australia is the Crown. Each freehold lot has its own Certificate of Title issued under the Transfer of Land Act 1893.

A dwelling on a freehold lot is classified as a ‘Single House’  under the Residential Design Codes, except where there is more than one dwelling on the lot, which classifies the dwellings as ‘Grouped Dwellings’.

Strata Lots

Strata lots are defined in relation to surveyed building parcels. Strata lots are individually owned building parcels, and have an ongoing relationship with others strata lots created on the same Strata Plan. A Strata Plan also identifies areas of common property, which may be used for their specified purpose by other strata lots (common access ways, boundary walls etc.).

Strata lots may include only the building parcel, however may also include the land area around the building parcel. For instance duplex and unit developments are often strata titled and include a land area component. Strata titles are created under the Strata Titles Act 1985.

Survey Strata Lots

Survey strata lots, as opposed to strata lots, consist only of surveyed land boundaries. Survey strata lots are individually owned, and on the Survey Strata Plan will have a similar appearance to a conventional freehold (green title) subdivision.  Although a Survey Strata Plan may include common property, and indicates an ongoing relationship between the other strata lots created on the same Survey Strata Plan.

A dwelling on a survey strata lot without any associated common property is generally classified as a ‘Single Dwelling’ under the Residential Design Codes. A dwelling with associated common property is generally classified as a ‘Grouped Dwelling’ under the Residential Design Codes.

Subdivision control and application process

The Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) is the State Government authority with the ultimate control over the processing and determination of subdivision within WA. Whilst Local Government does not have the decision making powers, it will be referred to throughout the subdivision application process, along with servicing authorities such as Western Power, Telstra and the Water Corporation, for recommendation and comment. 

Local Government also plays an important role in assessing the design and construction of subdivisions which have been granted approval by the WAPC, to ensure requirements are met and each condition relevant to Local Government has been satisfied.

The City will make recommendations to the WAPC based on a number of Policy documents, most notably Development Control Policy 2.2 - Residential Subdivisions and Development Control Policy 2.5 - Special Residential Zones and the WAPC will then approve, or refuse an application. Following final approval from the WAPC, the proponent must then lodge the endorsed Deposited Plan at the Land Title Office of the Department of Land Information to obtain new title documents.

Applications for subdivisions must include;

1. Application Form 
2. Proposed Subdivision Plan
3. Application Fee

More information on submission requirements can be obtained from the WAPC website.

Residential Design Codes for subdivision

The capacity to subdivide residential land is based on the zoning and size of the land. Most residential land within the City of Kwinana has been assigned a residential design code, known as its ‘R-Code’. The R-Code of your land specifies the minimum   and average lot size requirements relating to subdivision and grouped dwelling development, and these are summarised in the following table.

In addition to meeting lot size requirements, the Residential Design Codes specify other requirements relating to lot design, setbacks, driveways, open space, plot ratio, parking areas etc. The City of Kwinana encourages all land owners to become familiar with the Residential Design Codes, or seek professional advice prior to making a formal subdivision application. Although planning staff from the City of Kwinana can discuss general requirements of the R-Codes, they cannot design your subdivision or comment as to whether it will be approved by the WAPC. 

Further information and contacts

The information noted above is a general guide only. Please contact the City if you have any further questions about your specific project or property.