Is an easement required for shared services between the dwellings?
If both dwellings remain on the same lease, sharing or crossing services does not automatically mean a new easement is required.
It becomes more important if the dwellings are intended to have separate titles or separate areas of ownership. For example, if the sewer, water, stormwater, electricity or telecommunications serving one dwelling needs to run through the other dwelling's land, an easement may be needed to protect access to that service for future maintenance.
For a dual occupancy, we would therefore check the hydraulic and utility servicing plans together with the proposed titling arrangement before confirming whether an easement is necessary.
Reference: Planning (Residential Zones) Technical Specifications 2026 (NI2026-303), Assessment Outcome 29 Servicing and Infrastructure – Planning (Residential Zones) Technical Specifications 2026
Short Answer
Not necessarily for the dual occupancy itself. An easement may be required where services are shared between the two dwellings or where services for one dwelling pass through land that will be separately owned or controlled by the other dwelling.
Whether an easement is required will depend on the proposed service arrangement, ownership/title arrangement and the requirements of the relevant utility provider
Detailed Explanation
The current planning framework is the Planning (Residential Zones) Technical Specifications 2026 (NI2026-303), which commenced on 1 July 2026 and replaced the previous 2025 specifications. The Residential Zones Technical Specifications include “Parking, Services and Utilities” as one of the technical specification categories.
For a dual-occupancy proposal, we would specifically establish:
- whether each dwelling will have independent or shared utility connections;
- whether any water, sewer, stormwater, electricity or telecommunications infrastructure crosses an area associated with the other dwelling;
- whether the development will remain on one lease or subsequently be subdivided/unit titled; and
- whether the relevant service authority requires an easement, access arrangement or asset-clearance area.
Accordingly, we would not state that every dual occupancy with shared services requires an easement. The requirement needs to be determined from the servicing and titling arrangement and the requirements of the relevant utility authority.
No minimum block size does not remove the need for planning assessment.
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