Short answer: often yes, but the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 ("SCPS 2014" below) ties the answer to two things a zone-table glance won't show: the minimum lot size for a subdivision steps up with the measured slope of the ground, and whether a non-compliant split lands you in Impact assessment depends on which residential zone the land sits in, not on the shortfall alone.
One thing is constant: reconfiguring a lot (RaL) needs a development application either way. Under SCPS 2014's Table 5.6.1, RaL that meets the minimum lot size for its zone, or subdivides an existing or approved building, is code assessable across the residential zones by default (verified 3 July 2026). Code assessment means the application is decided against the scheme's technical codes rather than through public notification, but an application is still required every time.
The minimum lot size that moves with your slope
SCPS 2014's Reconfiguring a Lot code sets the minimum lot size in Table 9.4.4.3.2, and unlike a flat one-number rule, it steps up as ground slope increases (verified 3 July 2026):
| Zone | Min lot, ≤15% slope | >15-20% slope | >20% slope | Min rectangle / frontage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low density residential | 600 m² | 1,000 m² | 1,500 m² | 15 x 20 m / 15 m frontage |
| Medium density residential | 800 m² | 1,000 m² | 1,500 m² | 15 x 20 m / 15 m frontage |
| High density residential | 800 m² | 1,000 m² | 1,500 m² | 20 x 30 m / 20 m frontage |
A block that clears 600 m² on a flat desktop check can still fail the minimum once its real slope is surveyed: the same Low density lot needs 1,000 m² on ground between 15 and 20 per cent slope, and 1,500 m² above 20 per cent. A local plan code or structure plan can also set a different minimum for specific localities, so the lot's local plan precinct is checked alongside this table. In the Medium density zone, a smaller 300 m² lot is permitted, but only under an approved Plan of Development (Table 9.4.4.3.2, note 17); without an approved Plan of Development, the 800 m² (or slope-stepped) figure applies instead.
The switch: code by default, impact below the minimum, but not in every zone
This is the part a generic search misses. Table 5.6.1 sets Code assessment as the all-zones default for RaL that meets the minimum lot size. But where a Low density residential, Rural residential, Rural, Emerging community or Limited development lot creates additional lots that do not comply with that minimum, the same table drops the application to Impact assessment, which brings public notification into the process (Table 5.6.1, verified 3 July 2026). Medium and High density residential are not on that impact-trigger list at all, so a Medium or High density subdivision short of the minimum lot size stays Code assessable, the opposite of what the Low density rule would suggest. Which side of that switch a block sits on depends on its zone and its measured slope together, not on either alone.
What the flood overlay actually does to a subdivision here
The Table of Assessment treats flood on the Sunshine Coast as a single "flood and inundation area" condition, without tiered categories. For reconfiguring a lot, Table 5.10.1 keeps the category unchanged: mapped flood land does not by itself push RaL into a harder assessment tier, though the Flood hazard overlay code becomes an added benchmark once the application is otherwise assessable. Where flood does bite is earthworks, which become separately code assessable once filling cumulatively exceeds 50 m³ or physical work alters a waterway or floodway (including vegetation clearing). Mapped land is also not the only land the scheme tests. Its own words, footnote 12 to Table 5.10.1 (verified 8 July 2026):
"Other areas not identified by the flood hazard overlay may also be subject to the defined flood event (DFE) or defined storm tide event (DSTE). Development occurring in such areas will also be assessable against the Flood hazard overlay code."
So a lot with no flood mapping is not automatically clear of the flood code, and a lot with mapping is not automatically pushed into a harder subdivision category either. SCPS 2014 lists roughly twenty overlays; beyond flood, the others (bushfire, biodiversity, coastal hazard, acid sulfate soils and more) are not confirmed here against a typed assessment table and need reading against your specific parcel before relying on them.
If the split does not work, dual occupancy is often the fallback
Where a block cannot reach the minimum lot size for a second freehold lot, a dual occupancy is frequently still open. In the Low density zone, a dual occupancy is accepted development (no development application) provided the site sits outside Precinct LDR1 (Protected Housing Area), is at least 800 m² exclusive of any access strip, does not adjoin another dual occupancy lot, and has slope of 15 per cent or less (Dual occupancy code 9.3.5, AO1.2; verified 3 July 2026). In the Medium density zone, a dual occupancy is likewise accepted development, needing a minimum 15 m frontage. In the High density zone, dual occupancy is not a listed use at all and falls to Impact assessment instead, the reverse of the pattern in the two lower-intensity zones. Across all three zones the built-form rules are uniform: site cover of 50 per cent for a single storey (40 per cent at two or more storeys), a maximum of three bedrooms per dwelling, a 4.5 m front setback (6 m to a garage), 50 m² of private open space per dwelling, and two car spaces per dwelling with at least one covered. A dual occupancy can generally be built-format titled, so the two dwellings sell separately while the land stays one lot; the titling step is its own process a solicitor or town planner confirms. A secondary dwelling (granny flat) works differently: capped at 60 m² gross floor area on a regular lot of 600 m² or more (90 m² in the Rural or Rural residential zone, 45 m² with a 4 m height limit in Moffat Beach, Shelly Beach and Dicky Beach), it cannot be sold separately (verified 3 July 2026). Which of these fits a given block is a zone, slope and dimensions question.
How to check your own block
- Confirm which residential or rural zone the land sits in, and check whether the land sits inside a declared Priority Development Area (Caloundra South/Aura, the Maroochydore City Centre or the Sunshine Coast Airport precinct), where SCPS 2014 does not apply at all.
- Get the ground slope measured, then check each resulting lot against the slope-stepped minimum, the frontage and the minimum rectangle for the zone.
- If the split falls short of the minimum, check whether the zone puts the application into the Impact-assessment trigger (Low density, Rural residential, Rural, Emerging community, Limited development) or leaves it in Code (Medium and High density), and read the flood and other overlay maps against the parcel either way.
This page is general information about the Sunshine Coast planning scheme, not advice about your property. Overlay effects vary lot by lot, planning schemes amend, and the council's current scheme prevails. Do not rely on this page for a specific property. Get a site-specific report or independent professional advice before acting. We work with town planners, not in place of them: where a pathway depends on design or professional judgement, a town planner or the relevant qualified professional confirms it for your specific proposal.
Want the answer for your block? Our $690 site-specific report reads the zone, the mapped slope and lot dimensions, every overlay mapped over the lot and the surviving development pathways, with ground slope confirmed by survey where it decides the answer for one property, with every figure cited to the scheme. Not ready for that? Start with the free development risk checklist, or read our Sunshine Coast planning and zoning guide.
Sources: Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 (the council's official published scheme), including the Reconfiguring a Lot code (9.4.4, Table 9.4.4.3.2), Table 5.6.1, the Dual occupancy code (9.3.5) and Table 5.10.1. Everything on this page comes from the council's own published planning scheme; we explain it in plain English. The scheme text itself is the authority.
Published by LandIntel. How we research: our methodology.
Verified 3 to 8 July 2026 against the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 (Major Amendment 27, effective 23 January 2024); schemes amend, and the live scheme prevails.