Building a new house

Check for easements 

An easement is an area of land on your property that councils and other authorities are allowed to access. When an easement is obstructed, it can prevent important maintenance work and block the flow of stormwater.

Check your Certificate of Title for any easements. If you don’t have this document, get a copy from the Landata website for a small fee.

If there are any easements on your property and your plans will block or cover the easement, you may need to submit an application to build over an easement. 

Check for special restrictions

Some properties have special restrictions under the Boroondara Planning Scheme.

To check if your property is listed, visit the Department of Transport and Planning website’s Schedule to Clause 51.01 Specific Sites and Exclusions.

If your property is listed, contact our Statutory Planning team to find out what special restrictions and exemptions apply.

Check for restrictive covenants 

Check whether any restrictive covenants impact your property. They may restrict what material you can build your house with. 

To find out if your property is affected by a restrictive covenant, check the Certificate of Title.

Does your property have any restrictions?

• If yes, check that your plans comply with any requirements, then go to the next step. 
• If no, go to the next step.

Create a Planning Property Report on the VicPlan website by entering your property’s address.

This will give you the zone of your property.

You are not allowed to build a house in the following zones:

• Commercial 2 or Urban Floodway Zone
• Special Use Zone Schedule 1, unless the house is associated with an education centre
• Special Use Zone Schedule 2, unless it’s a caretaker’s house. You will need a Planning Permit to build a caretaker’s house.  

Is your property in any of these zones? 

• If yes, you cannot go ahead with your building project (unless it’s one of the exceptions listed above).
• If no, go to the next step. 

Check your property zone

Check the property zone in the Planning Property Report that you created in step 2.  

You need a Planning Permit if:

• Your property is in a Commercial 1 Zone Schedule 1 or Priority Development Zone.  
• Your property is in a General Residential Zone Schedule 1, Residential Growth Zone Schedule 1 or Neighbourhood Residential Zone Schedule 3, and the land size is less than 300 m².    

Check for overlays

Check for any overlays (restrictions) in the Planning Property Report.  

You need a Planning Permit if your property has any of these overlays:

• Heritage Overlay
• Special Building Overlay
• Significant Landscape Overlay and the height of the house will be more than 6 m above natural ground level
• Land Subject to Inundation Overlay
• Public Acquisition Overlay
• Environmental Significance Overlay Schedule 2
• Development Plan Overlay Schedule 1, 2 or 3
• Design and Development Overlay Schedule 1, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 23 or 31.

Planning enquiry tool

Use myLot, our free planning enquiry tool, to help you:

• find overlays that apply to your property
• determine if your new house requires a planning permit
• understand why a permit is or isn't needed, referencing the relevant planning rules and overlays.

This tool is intended as a helpful guide and isn’t a final planning decision.

Use our free planning enquiry tool

Do you need a Planning Permit?

• If yes, apply for a Planning Permit then go to the next step. Find out if your project is eligible for a VicSmart Planning Permit.
• If no, go to the next step. 

You always need a Building Permit to build a new house. Visit our Apply for, amend or extend a Building Permit page.

Note that if you are using a Private Building Surveyor to issue a Building Permit, you may need specific property reports. For example property information and building ownership details. 

You also need Report and Consent in the following situations:

• Your building plans do not comply with the siting matters of the Victorian Building Regulations 2018. For example setback from property boundaries, building height, front fence height, and overlooking. Find out more about siting matters for Report and Consent.  
• Your building plans will affect community assets, infrastructure or amenity (non-siting matters of the Building Regulations), such as building on flood prone land.

Find out more about Report and Consent, or contact our Building Services team if you are not sure whether you need it.

You can apply for a Building Permit while other permit applications are being processed. 

Depending on your situation, you may need other permits. 

If you need to:

• remove, prune or do works within 2 m of a canopy or significant tree, apply for a Tree Works Permit
• store equipment on a road, footpath or nature strip, apply for a Road or Footpath Occupancy Permit.

If your works could impact: 

• driveway access to your property, apply for a Vehicle Crossing Permit
• public assets, such as a road, footpath or nature strip, apply for an Asset Protection Permit.  

You can start construction:

• after all your permits have been issued
• if you do not need permits.

Before the final inspection happens and you move in, you need to apply for an Occupancy Permit.  

You can move in after:  

• the final inspection has been approved
• the Occupancy Permit has been issued.