Low and Mid Rise Housing in Frenchs Forest
1,174 residential lots in Frenchs Forest are eligible for Low and Mid Rise Housing today, about 27% of the suburb's houses. Most sit inside the walking catchment of Forestway shopping centre. Here is what that means, in plain English.
Figures are drawn from the public NSW planning record across the eligible lots in Frenchs Forest. Eligibility is assessed lot by lot, so your block may differ.
What you can actually build in Frenchs Forest
Frenchs Forest has the shape of suburb the reform was drawn for. 934 of the 1,174 eligible lots (80%) carry a measured frontage of at least 12 m, the width a terrace row needs, and 857 (73%) also reach 15 m, so the larger manor house typology is on the table across most of the suburb. Eligibility is a concentrated pocket rather than a general rezoning: 27% of Frenchs Forest's residential lots are in, clustered around Forestway shopping centre.
Across those same lots, 12 (1%) are heritage listed, not one sits in a flood risk precinct, and 78 (7%) sit on steep slope. The constraints that most often kill a project outright are close to absent here, which is not true of every suburb on this list.
Figures are drawn from the public NSW planning record across the eligible lots in Frenchs Forest. Eligibility and each of these constraints are assessed lot by lot, so an individual block can sit well away from the suburb pattern. The frontage counts cover lots we hold a measured frontage for, so a lot we have not measured is not counted as clearing the gate.
Why Frenchs Forest is on the list
In 2024 the NSW Government used a state planning policy to override council zoning within walking distance of designated centres. Frenchs Forest falls inside the catchment of Forestway shopping centre, so R2 (low density residential) lots that could carry a single house the day before can now carry more.
The change was not announced to the people it affects. The market has been acting on it since it landed. Most owners have heard nothing.
What an eligible Frenchs Forest block can become
On an eligible lot, the reform permits dual occupancies, terraces, manor houses, and small apartment blocks where the dimensions work. It also opens a faster approval route for projects that qualify, one your council cannot override. What any single lot can carry depends on its size, its frontage, and the controls that still apply.
The reform widens what is permitted. It does not require you to do anything, and it does not remove bushfire, flood, heritage, or environmental checks.
96 LMR-eligible lots in Frenchs Forest have changed hands in the two years to July 2026, at a median of $2.44M. Some of those sales reflect the uplift and some do not, which is exactly why a lot-specific read matters.
Is your Frenchs Forest lot one of them?
Enter your address. We read the full planning record on your lot and tell you, in plain English and for free, whether you are eligible. If your block stacks up, we can make you an offer to buy it.