What the control sets
The Residential Growth Zone is applied where a council intends substantial change — typically near activity centres, on main roads, and at the edges of established commercial areas. It is the most permissive of the ordinary residential zones. Its default height — the one that applies where the schedule sets none — is a “should”, not a requirement. But where the schedule to the zone sets a height, Clause 32.07-10 says a building “must not” exceed it, which makes a schedule height as binding as the Housing Choice and Transport Zone’s.
| Standard | What it sets | Status | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maximum building height — no schedule height | 13.5 m ("should not exceed") | Discretionary | Clause 32.07-10 |
| Maximum height, sloping site | 14.5 m | Discretionary | Clause 32.07-10 |
| Maximum building height — schedule sets one | The schedule figure ("must not exceed") | Mandatory | Clause 32.07-10 |
| Maximum storeys | The clause sets none | No standard | Clause 32.07-10 |
| Site coverage | 70% | Discretionary | Table B2-5, Clause 55.02-5 (A2-5) |
| Street setback | 4 m to an ordinary street, 6 m to a Transport Zone 2 road, or the lesser neighbour setback — see the table below | Discretionary | Table B2-1 / A2-1 |
| Minimum garden area | The zone is exempt | No standard | Clause 32.07 |
Taken from the consolidated Clause 32.07 ordinance text rather than from secondary commentary — which matters for the storey row, where the commentary and the ordinance disagree. Site coverage and street setback are the standards of Clauses 54 and 55; a schedule to the zone can raise the coverage above the table or lower the setback below it, not the other way. Assessed as at 29 September 2026 under VC253, VC257, VC267, VC276, VC282, VC300, VC308, VC311, VC315.
An absent standard is not a standard of zero
The metre cap does the work here. Storeys are unconstrained by the zone, which in practice means the constraint is arithmetic: how many floors fit under 13.5 m at the floor-to-floor height your building type needs. A residential floor plate at three metres gets you four; a ground floor with commercial ceiling heights gets you fewer.
The storey figure most often attached to this zone is what you get by dividing the height cap by an assumed floor-to-floor. It is not in the ordinance, and on a building with generous ceilings it quietly removes a level the scheme permits — while on a tight residential plate it invents headroom the height cap does not allow. The cap is the metres. How many floors fit under them is a design question.
The street setback is a table
As in the other residential zones, the street setback under Clauses 54 and 55 depends on the neighbouring buildings and the road, not only on the zone.
| Development context | Minimum setback from the front street |
|---|---|
| An existing building on both abutting allotments facing the same street, and the site is not on a corner | The lesser front wall setback of the two abutting buildings, or 6 m, whichever is the lesser |
| An existing building on one abutting allotment facing the same street and none on the other, and the site is not on a corner | The front wall setback of that abutting building, or 6 m, whichever is the lesser |
| No existing building on either abutting allotment facing the same street, and the site is not on a corner | 6 m for streets in a Transport Zone 2; 4 m for other streets |
| The site is on a corner | The front wall setback of the abutting building facing the front street, or 6 m, whichever is the lesser; with no such building, 6 m for streets in a Transport Zone 2 and 4 m for other streets |
Table B2-1, Clause 55.02-1 and Table A2-1, Clause 54.02-1 (VC315). A schedule to the zone may set a smaller distance; a schedule figure applies only if it is less than the table figure. Side street, Clause 55: Front walls fronting the side street: the setback of any abutting building facing the side street, or 3 m, whichever is the lesser. Side walls: that setback, or 2 m, whichever is the lesser. Side street, Clause 54: The setback of any abutting building facing the side street, or 2 m, whichever is the lesser. Under the Mid-Rise Code (Clause 57, Table E2-1) the setback is 4.5 m from the front street and 3 m from a side street, unless a schedule to the zone specifies a distance. Land Axis draws 6 m when it cannot see the neighbouring buildings or the road’s zone — a conservative assumption, not the standard.
The Mid-Rise Code reaches this zone, and not the two below it
Amendment VC300 rewrote Clause 57 into a mid-rise code for four to six storey apartment developments, and it is eligible in this zone up to 6 storeys — as it is in the Mixed Use, Township and Housing Choice and Transport zones. The General Residential and Neighbourhood Residential zones are excluded from it outright, which is the sharpest functional difference between this zone and the two below it.
Where an RGZ lot abuts land in the General Residential, Neighbourhood Residential or Township Zone, Clause 32.07-11 requires the Clause 55 side and rear setback, walls on boundaries, daylight to existing windows, overshadowing of open space, overlooking and solar-energy overshadowing standards along that boundary — whichever code the rest of the building is assessed under. It adds those requirements along that boundary rather than switching off the mid-rise code’s own side setback, so the larger of the two governs there.
One consequence is easy to miss: the code deleted the building-height standard from Clause 57 altogether. Height under the mid-rise pathway comes wholly from the zone, a schedule to the zone, or an overlay — so the 13.5 m above is not superseded by entering the pathway, it is the thing the pathway defers to. The pathway does move the street setback, to 4.5 m.
None of which makes 13.5 m the ceiling on an RGZ site. Without a schedule height it is discretionary; a schedule to the zone can replace it with a figure that is mandatory; and an overlay very often sets its own — so the height that binds a particular lot is a question about that lot, not about the zone.
Sources
- Victoria Planning Provisions, operative text as at VC315 (VPP ordinance API) — Clauses 32.04, 32.07, 32.08, 32.09, 32.10, 54.02, 55.02, 57.02 and 52.06 re-read in full. PRIMARY SOURCE for every figure on this page.checked 2026-09-29
- VPP ordinance — Clause 32.07 Residential Growth Zone. 32.07-10 caps HEIGHT (13.5 m default) and specifies NO storey maximum. PRIMARY SOURCE.checked 2026-07-26
- VPP ordinance — Clause 57 Mid-Rise Code (VC300, operational 16/04/2026; sub-clauses 57.02-2, 57.03-4/-5/-6, 57.04-2, 57.05-1/-3 further amended by VC308, operational 17/04/2026). Scheme as updated by VC312, 16/06/2026. PRIMARY SOURCE — supersedes all VC267-era commentary on Clause 57.checked 2026-07-26
Assessed as at 29 September 2026 under VC253, VC257, VC267, VC276, VC282, VC300, VC308, VC311, VC315.
Related: the Housing Choice and Transport Zone reaches similar and greater heights, with mandatory heights of its own. The Mixed Use Zone is the zone whose height is most often confused with this one’s.
Check it on a real site
See what applies to a particular property
This page describes the control in general. To see what applies to a particular property, search its address and read the zone, overlays and controls recorded against it. No account is needed for the search.
This page describes the instrument, not your land. Which controls actually apply to a particular property is settled by the planning certificate for it — a section 10.7 certificate in New South Wales, a planning certificate in Victoria — and by the responsible authority.