What are the new ‘deemed to comply’ standards for Townhouses?
We help you make sense of the new deemed to comply standards, highlighting the key changes and benefits for landowners seeking to develop their land for Townhouses of low rise apartments (up to 3 storeys).
The changes aim to streamline the Planning Permit process, reduce VCAT appeals, and provide greater certainty for developers.
New Deemed to Comply Standards: If a townhouse design meets specific standards (setbacks, height, daylight, overshadowing, and overlooking etc.) it's "deemed to comply," and neighbors cannot appeal to VCAT on those matters. Councils also cannot assess these proposals against neighborhood character objectives.
Benefits: This speeds up the process, reduces subjectivity, and removes some third-party appeal rights.
Clause 55 Changes: ResCode has been replaced in part by the Townhouse and Low-Rise Code (Clause 55). This clause sets out objectives that developments must meet.
VCAT Appeal Rights: Meeting the standards provides an exemption form third-party appeal rights (objector appeals)
ESD Requirements: New Environmental Sustainable Design (ESD) requirements have been introduced, focusing on tree canopy, ventilation, stormwater management, and solar energy.
Other Changes: Overlooking rules have changed (bedrooms are no longer considered habitable rooms for this purpose), and private open space requirements have been reduced.
Zone/Overlay Requirements: If a zone or overlay has different requirements than Clause 55, those zone/overlay requirements apply.
The new deemed to comply standards provide an opportunity for clients to speed up the Planning Permit process and reduce their chances of ending up in VCAT over trivial matters. If Townhouse designs meet the standards (relating to setbacks, height, walls on boundary, site coverage, fencing and the daylight to windows, overshadowing of secluded open space and solar and overlooking) the proposal is considered ‘deemed to comply’ and neighbours can’t appeal to VCAT. Another benefit is that Council’s can’t assess the deemed to comply proposal against any relevant neighbourhood character objective, policy or statement set out in the scheme. This takes a lot of the subjective views around neighbourhood character out of the equation.
New ESD requirements have been introduced in relation to tree canopy, cross ventilation, stormwater management and ensuring the opportunity for solar energy are all easy to comply with and will help create more livable neighbourhoods.
A significant change to overlooking has been introduced with bedrooms no longer considered a habitable room for overlooking purposes - dramatically reducing overlooking impacts on proposals and reducing the need for screening or 1.7m sill heights. Private open space requirements have been reduced from 40sqm down to 25sqm.
Our initial assessment is that the new provisions are easy to meet and designers should be designing to meet the provisions where they can to speed up the Permit process, reduce the requirements that proposals can be assessed against and remove the third party appeal rights on many elements for their clients.
If you have a project underway and want to know how to access the new provisions - get in touch as we’ve recently helped clients access the new rules for their applications that were submitted prior to the 6th of March 2025.
What are the new Clause 55 changes for Townhouses?
The planning scheme provisions that apply to applications for residential development in Victoria have recently changed, making it easier and hopefully quicker for landowners and developers to get approval for Townhouse and low rise apartment developments.
In March 2025 parts of ResCode were replaced by:
The Townhouse and Low-Rise Code (one to three storeys) (clause 55)
The residential development provisions, commonly known as ResCode are applied through the planning permit or building permit systems. They apply to:
the construction of new dwellings
alterations and extensions to existing dwellings
residential subdivisions
apartment developments
The new code introduced a deemed to comply assessment pathway to support faster decisions and greater certainty for townhouses and apartment buildings up to three storeys at clause 55 of all planning schemes.
What are the new ‘deemed to comply’ Clause standards?
Clause 55 specifies objectives that must be met. The objective describes the outcome to be achieved in the completed development. A development must meet all of the applicable objectives of the clause before a permit can be issued.
Each objective contains a relevant standard. A standard contains the requirements to meet the corresponding objective.
If a development meets a standard:
The corresponding objective is deemed to be met;
The responsible authority is not required to consider the corresponding decision guidelines or other policies or decisions guidelines pertaining to that matter.
If a development does not meet a standard, the responsible authority must consider the applicable decision guidelines in determining whether the corresponding objective is met.
What happens if a Zone or Overlay has a different requirement to the standard?
If a zone or an overlay specifies a requirement of a standard, different from a requirement set out in the clause, the requirement of the zone or overlay applies.
Clause 55 sets out matters that a responsible authority is exempt from and is not required to consider in determining applications to which clause 55 applies.
New exemption for third party appeal rights (VCAT appeal)
The new changes dramatically affect appeal rights which has the potential to avoid costly delays in VCAT for clients on trivial matters raised by objectors.
Where all the applicable standards are met, there will be no third party right of appeal (objector appeal).
Applicable standards:
55.02 – All Neighbourhood character standards (street setback, building height, side and rear setback, walls on boundaries, site coverage, access, tree canopy, front fence)
55.04-1 - Daylight to existing windows
55.04-2 - Existing north-facing windows
55.04-3 - Overshadowing secluded open space
55.04-4 - Overlooking
55.05-2 - Overshadowing domestic solar energy systems
A council must decide whether to advertise a development proposal to neighbours and the community (notice is required for most permit applications). People may make an objection or submission to the council.
Download the guide to the new Clause 55 provisions
Download the guide to the new provisions to help you understand how to implement them in your projects
Looking for some help with an existing or upcoming Townhouse project?
Get in touch with the team today to see how we can help you fast track your projects through the Planning Permit process. Skip the headaches and seek expert planning advice from the outset.
