Is Your Block Right for a Knockdown Rebuild? A Melbourne Site Checklist

2 Aug

A knockdown rebuild sounds like a decision about a house. It is mostly a decision about land.

The house is coming down either way. What is left is your block, and your block decides what can go back up. Before anyone draws a floor plan, it is worth knowing what the land will and will not allow.

This is the checklist we work through with homeowners. Some of it you can do yourself in an afternoon. Some of it needs a professional. All of it is better done before you commit.

1. Read your title

Your certificate of title is the first document to look at, and most people have never read theirs properly.

You are looking for two things.

Restrictive covenants. These are private restrictions registered on the title, usually created when the land was first subdivided. They can be surprisingly specific. Common ones control the number of dwellings allowed, the minimum floor area, the external materials, the roof pitch, and sometimes even fencing.

A covenant is not a guideline. It is enforceable by any other owner who benefits from it. Removing or varying one is possible through the planning system or the courts, but it is slow and the outcome is not guaranteed. It is far better to know it is there before you design around it.

Easements. These are rights other parties have over part of your land, usually for drainage, sewerage or power. You generally cannot build over an easement without the authority's consent, and consent is not automatic. An easement running down the side or rear of a block quietly removes that strip from your buildable area.

You can order a title search through Land Use Victoria. It is inexpensive and it answers questions that would otherwise cost you months.

2. Check your zone and overlays

Every property in Victoria sits in a planning zone, and many sit under one or more overlays. Together they set the rules for what you can build.

The zone tells you what use is allowed. Most established suburban blocks sit in a General Residential Zone or a Neighbourhood Residential Zone. The difference matters, because Neighbourhood Residential Zones typically cap the number of dwellings and the building height more tightly.

Overlays sit on top of the zone and add extra requirements. The ones that most often affect a rebuild:

Heritage Overlay. Demolition usually needs a planning permit, and it may be refused.
Neighbourhood Character Overlay. Controls the look and siting of new homes.
Bushfire Management Overlay. Triggers a Bushfire Attack Level assessment and construction requirements under AS 3959.
Special Building Overlay and Land Subject to Inundation Overlay. Flood related, and they affect floor levels and sometimes the footprint.
Significant Landscape Overlay. Often protects trees, which can shape where the house sits.

You can look all of this up for free using the Victorian Government's planning property report tool. Type in your address and it tells you the zone, the overlays and the relevant planning scheme.

Our guide to building permits in Victoria explains how these findings feed into the approvals process.

3. Understand your setbacks and site coverage

The planning scheme sets minimum distances between your house and the boundaries, and a maximum percentage of the block you can cover.

Front setbacks are often tied to what the neighbours have done, not a fixed number. Side and rear setbacks generally increase as the wall gets taller, which is why second storeys pull in from the boundary.

Site coverage limits the total building footprint. There is usually a separate limit on impermeable surfaces, which counts driveways and paving as well as roof.

These three numbers, taken together, define the outline of what you can build before anyone thinks about rooms. A good designer works within them from the first sketch rather than discovering them at permit stage.

4. Find out which way the block faces

Orientation is free at design stage and impossible to change later.

In Melbourne, north facing living areas are the goal. Northern sun is easy to control with a modest eave, warms the house in winter, and can be shaded in summer. West facing glass is the opposite. It delivers harsh low afternoon sun in summer, which is the hardest heat to shade out.

Work out where north is relative to your block. If your rear yard faces north, that is a gift and the design should take it. If your only northern aspect is the front, the design has to work harder, and it is better to know that on day one.

This matters more than it used to. Since 1 May 2024, new homes in Victoria have had to meet a 7 star minimum thermal performance rating plus a Whole of Home energy budget. Good orientation is the cheapest way to get there. We cover the broader picture in our guide to designing a future-proof custom home in Melbourne.

5. Get a soil test and a site classification

Soil determines the footing system, and the footing system is one of the first things built and one of the hardest to change.

A geotechnical engineer takes bore samples and classifies the site under AS 2870. The classes run from A, which is stable sand or rock, through S, M, H1, H2 and E, which are increasingly reactive clays that move as moisture changes. Melbourne's east and south east have a lot of reactive clay.

A more reactive classification means a stiffer, deeper footing system. It is not a problem. It is just information, and it is much better to have it early than to have it after the design is locked.

Two other things a site investigation can surface: fill from previous works, and contamination. Both are far easier to deal with when found early.

6. Check the trees

Trees can stop a project, and homeowners rarely think about them.

Some councils protect significant trees through local law regardless of overlays. Some protect them through a Significant Landscape Overlay or a Vegetation Protection Overlay. Neighbouring trees matter too, because their root zones extend across boundaries and you may not be able to excavate within them.

Trees also interact with soil. Large trees near a building draw moisture out of reactive clay, which increases movement. Engineers account for this, and it can push the footing design further.

Find out which trees on and near your block are protected before you plan the driveway.

7. Look at services and access

Practical, unglamorous, and important.

Existing connections. Where do the water, sewer, gas, power and stormwater connections enter the block, and what condition are they in? Older properties sometimes have shared or non compliant connections.

Sewer location. Building over or near a sewer main requires approval from the water authority, and it may require a build over agreement.

Power supply. A larger home with more services may need a supply upgrade. Overhead lines near the site also affect what can be craned in and where scaffold can go.

Site access. Can a truck get in? Is the street narrow, on a bend, or a no standing zone? Is there a nature strip crossing that has to be protected? Narrow or steep access does not stop a build, but it changes how the build is planned.

8. Look at the slope

A fall across the block changes the design and the earthworks.

A gentle fall is easy to absorb. A steeper fall means cut and fill, retaining walls, and possibly a split level design. None of this is a barrier, and sloping blocks often produce the best homes, because the design has to be thoughtful.

What matters is knowing the fall before you choose a design. A plan drawn for a flat block, dropped onto a sloping one, will not sit properly.

9. Confirm what the neighbourhood expects

This is not a legal test, but it affects your permit and your resale.

Councils assess new homes against neighbourhood character. A design that ignores the street it sits in attracts objections and slows approval. A design that respects the rhythm of the street, without copying it, moves faster.

Walk your street. Look at the setbacks, the roof forms, the materials and the scale. You do not have to match them. You do have to be able to explain how your home sits with them.

10. Ask what the block could become

The last question is the biggest one, and it is easy to skip.

Is a single home the best use of this land?

Depending on the zone, the size and the frontage, your block might support a dual occupancy or a small townhouse development. That is a different project with different economics, and it is not right for everyone. But it is worth asking once, properly, before you rebuild a single dwelling and close the door on it.

Our services page sets out how we handle both single custom homes and multi residential projects.

Putting the checklist to work

You do not need to complete all ten items yourself. What you need is to have them answered before you commit to a design or sign a contract.

In practice the order is usually: title search and planning property report first, because they are quick and cheap and can rule things out. Then a site visit with a builder or designer. Then the soil test and a feature and level survey once you are serious.

By the end of that, you know what your land can hold. Everything after that is design.

How we approach it

We only take on a limited number of homes each year, which means we spend real time on this stage rather than rushing to a contract. Sher Baloch, our founder, comes from a structural engineering background, and site conditions get scrutinised properly before anything is promised.

If you want a straight read on what your block can support, walk it with us. You can see completed work on our projects page, including the Wheelers Hill residence, the Boronia residence and the Parkgate residence. Read more about our team, or contact us to arrange a site visit.

Frequently asked questions

Can I do a knockdown rebuild if my block has a covenant?

Often yes, as long as the new home complies with the covenant. Problems arise when the covenant limits something you want, such as a second dwelling or a particular material. Read the covenant first and design to it.

Do I need a planning permit to demolish my house?

Not always. Demolition of a single dwelling generally does not need a planning permit unless a Heritage Overlay or another specific control applies. You will still need a building permit for the demolition work itself.

What if my soil test comes back as a reactive site?

It means the footing system has to be designed for movement. This is common across large parts of Melbourne and it is well understood by engineers. It affects the design, not the viability.

How early should I get a soil test?

Once you are serious about proceeding and before the design is finalised. Doing it earlier gives the engineer time to design footings that suit both the ground and the house, rather than forcing one to fit the other.

Does any of this change if I use a volume builder instead?

The site rules are the same. What changes is how much of the design can flex to suit the block. We compared the two approaches in custom builder versus volume builder in Melbourne.