MU1 Mixed Use zoning in NSW

Mixed use zones in the NSW Standard Instrument LEP. Checked 26 September 2026.

MU1 Mixed Use is the zone for streets where commercial, community and residential uses sit in the same buildings. Its objectives are a diversity of business, retail, office and light industrial uses that generate employment, active street frontages, minimising land use conflict, and non-residential uses on the ground floor of buildings. It replaced B4 Mixed Use on 26 April 2023.

The Standard Instrument mandates commercial premises, shop top housing, boarding houses, light industries, medical centres, function centres, entertainment facilities, tourist and visitor accommodation, car parks and passenger transport facilities with consent. Residential flat buildings and dwelling houses are not mandated: MU1 housing is meant to sit above something else.

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What the Standard Instrument says

The objectives and uses every council LEP must carry for this zone, quoted from the Land Use Table. Blank items are left to the LEP.

Standard Instrument Land Use Table

Zone MU1 Mixed Use

Business, retail, office and light industrial uses mixed with housing above active street frontages. Non-residential uses are encouraged on the ground floor.

1 Objectives of zone

To encourage a diversity of business, retail, office and light industrial land uses that generate employment opportunities.
To ensure that new development provides diverse and active street frontages to attract pedestrian traffic and to contribute to vibrant, diverse and functional streets and public spaces.
To minimise conflict between land uses within this zone and land uses within adjoining zones.
To encourage business, retail, community and other non-residential land uses on the ground floor of buildings.

Direction: the LEP must permit, with or without consent

Building identification signs
Business identification signs
Home industries
Roads

2 Permitted without consent

Left to the council's LEP.

3 Permitted only with consent

Amusement centres
Boarding houses
Car parks
Centre-based child care facilities
Commercial premises
Community facilities
Entertainment facilities
Function centres
Information and education facilities
Light industries
Local distribution premises
Medical centres
Oyster aquaculture
Passenger transport facilities
Places of public worship
Recreation areas
Recreation facilities (indoor)
Registered clubs
Respite day care centres
Restricted premises
Shop top housing
Tank-based aquaculture
Tourist and visitor accommodation
Vehicle repair stations

4 Prohibited

Left to the council's LEP.

A council LEP adopts this entry and adds its own objectives, permitted uses and prohibited uses under the Land Use Table directions, so the LEP land use table for the land is the one that applies. Schedule 1 of the LEP, the Housing SEPP and the Codes SEPP can permit development the table does not.

What it means in practice

Where the common questions land, and which instrument decides each of them.

Shop top housing

Mandated with consent, and the fourth objective and Direction 7 of the Land Use Table together mean an MU1 building can put homes over ground-floor commercial premises. Stand-alone residential flat buildings depend on the council's LEP; some MU1 tables include them, others do not, and the Housing SEPP's low and mid rise housing chapter applies only in R1 to R4.

Commercial and light industrial

Commercial premises and light industries are both mandated, which distinguishes MU1 from E1: a maker space, small workshop or artisan producer is permissible with consent in MU1 by default.

Tourist accommodation

Tourist and visitor accommodation, which covers hotels, serviced apartments and backpackers' accommodation, is mandated with consent in MU1 but not in E1 or E2.

Height and floor space

MU1 land in centres usually carries the same height and floor space ratio controls as adjoining E2 land, set by the LEP maps rather than the zone.

Former zone names

Before 26 April 2023 this land was generally zoned B4 Mixed Use, which Schedule 1 of the Standard Instrument now lists as a former zone with MU1 as a new zone. The mapping from B4 to MU1 follows the Department of Planning's employment zone reform guidance. The savings period that preserved former-zone permissibility ended on 26 April 2025.

Frequently asked questions

What is MU1 Mixed Use zoning?

The Standard Instrument zone for buildings and streets that mix commercial, community and residential uses, with non-residential uses on the ground floor. It replaced B4 Mixed Use in 2023 and mandates commercial premises, shop top housing, light industries, tourist accommodation and other centre uses with consent.

Can you build apartments in MU1?

Shop top housing, meaning apartments above ground-floor commercial premises, is mandated with consent. A residential flat building without a commercial ground floor is permissible only where the council's LEP adds it to the MU1 table.

What is the difference between MU1 and E1?

Both mandate commercial premises and shop top housing with active ground floors. MU1 also mandates light industries, tourist and visitor accommodation and car parks, while E1 mandates home businesses, public administration buildings and service stations. MU1 is used where the council wants a genuine mix; E1 where it wants a local centre.

Does the Housing SEPP's low and mid rise housing chapter apply in MU1?

No. Chapter 6 of the Housing SEPP permits dual occupancies, multi dwelling housing and residential flat buildings in R1 to R4 zones within its areas. MU1 housing follows the council's LEP and the Housing SEPP chapters that apply to shop top housing and boarding houses.

Sources

Standard Instrument (Local Environmental Plans) Order 2006, current version for 1 July 2026 to date. Read on the NSW legislation website on 26 September 2026.

Other instruments

State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) 2021, current version for 11 September 2026 to date; State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008, current version for 11 September 2026 to date. Read on 26 September 2026. The translation of the former B and IN zones to the employment zones follows NSW Department of Planning guidance rather than the Standard Instrument text.

Other zones

How to read zoning, height and FSR maps in NSW

Know the zone.
Then read everything that sits over it.

Plynth answers site questions with every control linked to its source: the zone, the LEP land use table, the SEPPs that add to it and the standards on the other maps.

See planning due diligence in Plynth Back to the zoning explainer