The checklist developers run before they offer on land – zoning, overlays, size and frontage, servicing, location and nearby approvals – and how to check your own property against it.
What developers look for in a site is land where the planning rules allow more homes or floor space than exist today, with enough size, frontage and a regular shape for an efficient layout. They want few constraining overlays such as flooding or vegetation, water, sewer and road access that can be connected at a known cost, and a location where buyers will pay enough for the finished product to cover every cost and a profit. Approved projects next door make a site easier to sell.
Every developer, from a builder doing a duplex to a company planning a 100-lot estate, asks the same question about a piece of land: what can we get approved here, what will it cost to deliver, and what will buyers pay for it? The answer comes from six things – zoning, size and shape, overlays, servicing, location and the approval pathway. A site that scores well on all six attracts several developers and competition. A site that fails one badly may only suit a niche buyer, or need a neighbour's land to work. The rest of this guide takes each check in turn, in the order most developers run them.
Every council in South East Queensland has a planning scheme; on the Gold Coast it is the City Plan. The zone determines what uses can and cannot happen on a property, and some zones have precincts with more specific rules. Developers look for land where the zone allows more homes or floor space than are there today – a single house in a medium-density residential zone, for example, or rural-residential land inside an emerging community area.
They then read the codes to see how a proposal would be assessed. Under Queensland's planning system, assessable development is either code assessable, judged against the scheme's set benchmarks without public notification, or impact assessable, which needs public notification so anyone can make a submission and is assessed more broadly. A code-assessable pathway is faster and carries less risk, so developers pay more for it. Our council development profiles summarise the planning settings in each SEQ council area, and our guide to Gold Coast City Plan zones and overlays explains how to read your zone and overlays.
Developers look for a site large enough, and regular enough, to fit roads, driveways, lots or a building efficiently. A wide frontage allows more access points and better layouts; a long, narrow or irregular block loses much of its area to access and setbacks, which lowers the yield. Slope matters too, because retaining walls and earthworks add cost.
Where a single lot is too small or the wrong shape on its own, developers look at the neighbours. Combining two or more lots into one site through a property amalgamation can turn several unattractive parcels into one site that suits many more developers. In Logan Reserve, five titles on Glen Road became one 7.49 ha site that sold for $12.36 million and is now the approved 109-lot Riverleigh community.
An overlay identifies a feature that must also be considered when developing land, such as flooding, heritage, bushfire risk, landslide risk or protected vegetation. An overlay does not stop development on its own, but it can add requirements, change the design or reduce the area that can be built on. Developers also check for easements, contamination, acid sulfate soils, nearby noise sources and anything else that shrinks the developable area or adds cost.
The question is never simply "is there an overlay?" but "how much of the site does it affect, and what will it cost to deal with?" A flood overlay over the back corner of a large lot may make little difference; one over the whole site can change the product completely.
Water, sewer, stormwater, power and road access all have to be available or affordable to extend. A site with services in the street is worth more than one that needs a long sewer main or a new road intersection. On top of the physical works, a Queensland local government with a local government infrastructure plan can levy infrastructure charges for trunk infrastructure through an infrastructure charges notice. Developers price both into their feasibility, so they flow straight through to what they can pay for the land.
A developer only buys land if buyers will pay enough for the finished homes, apartments or commercial space. Transport, schools, shops, jobs, views and the price of nearby new and established homes all feed into that end value. That is why the same zone can support very different land prices in different suburbs, and why developers study recent sales and the projects already selling around a site before they make an offer.
Approved projects on neighbouring land show what council has already supported, and often mean roads and services are close by. On the Gold Coast, development applications can be searched by address or application number in the City's PD Online, and council offers pre-lodgement meetings to discuss a proposal before an application is lodged. Our guide to how long a DA takes in Queensland sets out the stages and statutory timeframes. Logan owners can use the property report in the Logan PD Hub.
A good example is 170 Loganview Road, Logan Reserve: a 2.08 ha Emerging Community site with 90.7 m of frontage and services in the street, sitting beside approved communities of 93 and 272 lots. Ticking every box on this checklist is why it was secured in 33 minutes through our developer network.
Once a developer is comfortable with the six checks, it estimates the yield – the number of lots, townhouses or apartments it can realistically get approved – and works backwards from the finished project. Expected sales, less construction, consultants, infrastructure charges, finance, holding costs and profit, leave the most it can pay for the land. Our guide to how a development site is valued explains this residual method step by step, and our guide to selling a development site covers how to take land to market once you know who will buy it.
Then ask for a free development-site appraisal. GC Prestige reviews zoning, the planning scheme, overlays, servicing and likely yield, prices the site on current development-land sales and recommends the best way to sell – whether a public campaign or an off-market sale to developers with a matching brief. Our development arm, South AZ Developments, has secured 21 development sites across South East Queensland, and our managing director Oktay Vali has settled more than $200 million in property transactions.
What developers look for in a site is zoning that allows more homes or floor space than exist today, enough size and frontage for an efficient layout, few constraining overlays, services that can be connected at a known cost, a location where buyers will pay enough for the finished product, and a clear pathway to approval.
Usually the zoning and the yield it allows, because that sets how many homes or how much floor space can be sold. The other factors then add or remove cost, which changes what a developer can pay for the land.
No. An overlay means a feature such as flooding must be considered when developing. It may reduce the usable area or require design changes, but it is not an automatic refusal.
It depends on the product and the planning scheme. Wider frontage generally allows more efficient layouts and access. A town planner can confirm the requirements for a specific site.
Some do because it removes planning risk; others prefer to design their own scheme. Many buy land without an approval and apply after purchase, or under a conditional contract or option.
Check your zone and overlays in your council's mapping tool, look at what has been approved nearby, and compare your site's size and frontage with sites developers have bought. A development-site appraisal tests the yield and value for you.
On the Gold Coast, use the City's PD Online to search applications by address or application number. Other councils, such as Logan with its PD Hub, have similar online tools.
Yes. We review zoning, overlays, servicing and likely yield, then give you a free, no-obligation appraisal with a realistic value and the best way to sell.
General information only, current at 11 November 2026. This guide is not legal, financial, tax or planning advice. Rules change, so check the official sources above and get advice from a solicitor, accountant or town planner for your situation. Updated 11 November 2026 by GC Prestige, 1300 937 981.