Shea CullenNSW Registered Architect 9748 · Updated 6 July 2026How to calculate yield for an Apartment Building
One of the first things you need to know when considering a site is how many apartments can be built on it, this will help determine if the site is feasible.
Use the free apartment yield calculator below to estimate how many apartments your site can hold in seconds, or follow the step by step method to work out the yield yourself. Design work can move the number: at Lakeview Apartments at Long Jetty an FSR solution added twenty apartments to the approved design.
Estimate apartment yield
Type in the address below to use our site yield calculator, or do it yourself using the steps below. Apartment sites are usually two or more lots, so add each address to combine them.
Enter the site area, frontage and depth to see the estimate.
Indicative only. The floor-plate figure treats the site as a rectangle. This is a simple calculator based on the site area. We have not checked flood mapping, bushfire zoning or services, which can reduce your yield. There are also maximum floor plate sizes to take into account. Side and rear setbacks use the ADG building-separation bands for the building height (6 m up to 12 m, 9 m up to 24 m, 12 m above 24 m); confirm the front setback against the Central Coast DCP. Councils are strict on solar access and natural ventilation under the Apartment Design Guide, so have your architect confirm compliance. For a real in-depth site assessment of an apartment building, we recommend getting a site feasibility done ( Feasibility Plans). For further information, see essential things to check before purchasing on the Central Coast. Based on Central Coast LEP 2022 and the NSW Apartment Design Guide. Subject to council approval.
Explore apartment design- Get information about the site following the steps above. The main information that you need to check is if apartment buildings are permitted in the zone (found in the LEP), what the height limit is (found in property portal and the LEP) and the rear and front setbacks (found in the DCP). These can all be found easily on Mecone Mosaic Mapping:
https://www.mecone.com.au/mosaic/
- Find the side setbacks required. In the Apartment Design Guide (ADG) the side setbacks are:
9 storeys and above 12m setback (12-24m separation)
Up to 8 storeys 9m setback (9-18m separation)
Up to 4 storeys 6m setback (6-12m separation)
These are the setbacks to habitable spaces, they are the best to use in feasibility as council often won't accept the non habitable spaces.
- Get a scaled map from sixmaps.
- Draw in the setbacks.
- Calculate the area inside the setbacks and multiply it by as many levels as will fit under the height limit. Allow 3.4m from floor to ceiling. Look at the contours on sixmaps to take into account half levels.
- When you have the area remove 20% from it to allow for corridors and foyers.
- This number is an approximate Ground Floor Area (GFA).
- Go to the LEP and check what the maximum Floor Space Ratio (FSR) is for the site. FSR is GFA/ site area.
- The Ground floor area you can use is either the one you have calculated with the setbacks or the site area x FSR, whichever is lesser.
- Divide this number by the following numbers to get an estimate of how many apartments the site will yield (these numbers are greater that the minimum required by the ADG to allow for balconies and wasted space):
3 bed: 120m² (ADG minimum 90m²)
2 bed: 100m² (ADG minimum 70m²)
1 bed: 70m² (ADG minimum 50m²)
studio: 50m² (ADG minimum 35m²)
The ADG minimums assume one bathroom. Each additional bathroom adds 5m² to the minimum, and a fourth bedroom or beyond adds 12m² each. The planning figures above sit above the minimums deliberately, because minimum sized apartments sell and lease badly.
- A good shortcut is to calculate the number of two bedrooms GFA/ 100m² and then work out an apartment mix later.
- This will give you a rough idea, councils are very strict on solar access and natural ventilation compliance with the ADG so get your local architect to check that you can comply.