Most people don't realise that their property might actually contain more than one lot. Across Australia, thousands of properties have a single title that covers two or more separately surveyed lots. These are called splitter blocks.
The reason this matters is that separating those lots into individual titles is almost entirely a paperwork exercise. Unlike a subdivision, which requires council approval, development applications, infrastructure charges, and months of waiting, splitting an existing multi-lot title is handled directly through the state land titles office. There's no council approval needed, no minimum lot size requirements, no infrastructure charges, and the process can often be completed in a matter of weeks. The cost is typically a few hundred dollars in lodgement fees plus conveyancing costs.
The financial opportunity is significant. Once the lots are on separate titles, each one can be sold independently. A property owner sitting on two lots under one title might be living on a block worth $700,000 as a single property. Split into two titled lots, the house on one lot might be worth $500,000 and the vacant titled lot next to it might sell for $350,000 — creating $150,000 or more in value from what was essentially an administrative process.
The challenge has always been finding them. There's no public register that lists splitter blocks. Identifying them has traditionally required manually checking individual properties one at a time across council mapping tools and title searches. At scale, that's impractical.
This tool identifies every splitter block candidate across multiple council areas by cross-referencing government cadastral data (which maps every individual surveyed lot) with property boundary data (which groups lots into properties based on common ownership). Where one property contains two or more lots, the tool flags it as a splitter block candidate.
Each property is enriched with its street address, planning zone, lot sizes, and a building footprint analysis that classifies it into one of four categories:
Unicorn — the existing building sits entirely on one lot, leaving the other lot vacant and immediately ready to split off. These are the highest-value opportunities because there's no demolition or relocation required.
Straddler — the building spans across both lots. Still a splitter block, but the existing structure would need to be dealt with before the lots can be separated.
Vacant — no building detected on either lot. The lots can likely be split and both sold or developed independently.
Multi-building — multiple buildings already exist, suggesting the property may already be developed as units or a duplex.
Not all splitter blocks are equal. A unicorn on a 400sqm lot in a premium coastal suburb with street frontage and no overlays is a completely different proposition to one on a small lot in a flood zone with no road access. The tool assigns each property a Unicorn Score that ranks how clean and actionable the opportunity is.
The score takes into account several factors:
Building position — how cleanly does the existing building sit on just one lot? A house that's 100% on one lot with clear separation from the boundary scores highest. A house that sits mostly on one lot but has a verandah or carport overhanging onto the second lot scores lower because there's minor work involved before the lots can be separated.
Setback distance — how far is the building edge from the lot boundary? A house sitting 6 metres back from the dividing line between the lots is a much stronger opportunity than one sitting 1.5 metres from it. Greater setback means more flexibility for whatever gets built on the vacant lot and fewer complications with boundary clearances.
Lot size — larger lots score higher. A vacant lot of 500sqm+ is a standalone developable block in most residential zones. A lot under 300sqm has limited appeal and may not support a dwelling without design compromises.
Number of buildings — a single building on the property scores highest. Multiple buildings suggest the site may already be developed, reducing the opportunity.
The higher the score, the cleaner the opportunity. Properties at the top of the list are the ones where you could approach the owner, split the title through a simple lodgement with the state land titles office, and have a separately titled vacant lot ready to sell or develop with the least friction.
Use the filters in the sidebar to narrow down the list by suburb, zone, lot count, classification, and score. Click any property on the map or in the sidebar list to see its details, lot boundaries, and property outline. Export filtered lists to CSV for further analysis.