Lot configurations.

Once your block clears the zone and minimum-lot-size test, the next question is how to split it. The shape of the existing lot, the position of the existing house, and the street frontage determine which configurations are even possible.

Side-by-side

The cleanest option. Two front lots facing the existing street, each with its own driveway and frontage.

Needs:

• Enough total frontage. In LDR that means 2 × 10 m minimum = 20 m at the street, plus retained-house setbacks where the existing house is being kept.
• Lot shape that allows two compliant lots without slivers or awkward dog-legs.
• Existing house either positioned on one of the proposed lots in a fully compliant way, or demolished.

A 20 m frontage with the house centred is usually a tear-down. A 25 m frontage with the house pushed to one side often works — keep the house on one lot, build new on the other.

Battle-axe (rear lot)

The retained front lot stays where the existing house is. The new lot sits behind it, accessed via a narrow strip of land down the side.

Rules:

• Rear lot needs 600 m² excluding the access strip in LDR. The 600 m² is the developable area only — the access handle doesn't count.
• Access strip needs to be a minimum of 3.5 m wide for a single rear lot (4 m where it serves two or more rear lots), continuous and unobstructed.
• The front lot still needs to meet its own minimum size after you subtract the access strip area from it.

Brisbane City Plan 2014, §9.4.10 Subdivision code, Table 9.4.10.3.B and §9.4.10.4 (rear lot access requirements)

The math is unforgiving. A 900 m² block with a 3.5 m strip 30 m long loses 105 m² to the strip. For a 600 m² rear lot plus a 450 m² front lot plus the strip you'd need 1,155 m² before you start. 900 m² won't get you there.

Battle-axes work best on blocks 1,100 m² and up.

Three or more lots

Once you're creating three or more lots, you're almost always either:

• Splitting a very large block into multiple front lots (rare in established Brisbane suburbs — generally needs ≥1,500 m² with strong frontage),
• Creating a small internal road or common-property driveway, or
• A combination of front and rear lots with a shared access handle.

Three-lot configurations are usually impact-assessable. Common-property arrangements, increased traffic concentration on a shared driveway, and non-standard layouts all push it out of code-assessable territory. Council looks closely at streetscape, on-street parking impact, and stormwater concentration.

If you're talking about 4+ lots, you're effectively doing a small estate. That's a different beast: a new dedicated road, more substantial civil works (kerb, channel, stormwater detention, lighting, often electricity and comms relocation), and a much larger DA package.

Corner blocks

Corner blocks have two street frontages and are the easiest LDR sites to split side-by-side. Each new lot gets its own street, no shared driveway, no battle-axe geometry. The minimum frontage rule applies to each lot's primary street.

If your block is a corner and ≥800 m² in LDR, side-by-side is usually achievable.