Alter or extend your 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.

Check your plans to find out if your project is one of the following:

• An internal rearrangement: you plan to make changes to the inside of the house only. You will not increase the gross floor area, building size or number of dwellings.
• Normal equipment that services the house: you are installing standard equipment or an appliance that services a house. For example:
  • access ramps or handrails
  • air conditioning
  • hot water services
  • security systems
  • shade sails
  • a barbecue
  • downpipes
  • flues.
• Repairs and routine maintenance: your project is regular maintenance or repair of damaged building parts. It is not replacing an entire part of the building. For example replacing broken roof tiles is 'repairs and routine maintenance', but replacing all or part of the roof is not.

Is your project any of the above?

• If yes, go to step 4.
• 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. Check if it’s in a: 

• General Residential Zone
• Residential Growth Zone
• Neighbourhood Residential Zone.

If your property is not in any of these zones, go to step 4.

Maximum building heights and storeys

These 3 zones have limits on the maximum height and number of storeys you can build. The table below shows the height and storey limits.

*A slope is where the angle of the natural ground level, measured at any cross section of the site of the building wider than 8 metres, is more than 2.5 degrees.

If your design is over the maximum height or storey limit for your zone you might not be allowed to do the extension. Contact our Statutory Planning team for advice.

Does your project meet Residential Zone requirements? 

• If yes, go to the next step.
• If no, change your plans or contact our Statutory Planning team for advice. 

Check for overlays

Refer to the Planning Property Report that you created in step 3 and check for any overlays (restrictions).

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

• Heritage Overlay unless the works are repairs and routine maintenance
• Public Acquisition Overlay
• Land Subject to Inundation Overlay
• Environmental Significance Overlay unless the works are repairs and routine maintenance, or constructing a heating appliance, chimney or flue pipe
• Design and Development Overlay, except for Design and Development Overlay Schedule 4
• Significant Landscape Overlay and the height of the house will be more than 6 m above natural ground level.

If your property has a Special Building Overlay, contact our Statutory Planning team for advice on whether you need a Planning Permit.

If your property is on the Victorian Heritage Register, you may also need approval from Heritage Victoria. Contact Heritage Victoria for advice on how to apply for approval.

Check your property zone

Refer to the Planning Property Report and check your property zone.

You need a Planning Permit if:

• Your property is in a Commercial 1 or Commercial 2 Zone (unless your project is an internal rearrangement, normal equipment that services a house, or repairs and routine maintenance).
• Your property is in a General Residential, Neighbourhood Residential, Mixed Use or Residential Growth Zone, and you are planning an extension on a lot less than 300 m².

Planning enquiry tool

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

• find overlays that apply to your property
• determine if your extension or alteration 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. Your project is eligible for a VicSmart Planning Permit if:
  • a Special Building Overlay affects your land, or
  • the application is for a residential lot under 300 m²  and meets specific criteria about developing on smaller lots.
• If no, go to the next step.  

You need a Building Permit if your works will:

• endanger the public or people who occupy the house, or 
• will impact the 'structural soundness' of the building. 

Structural soundness means removing or changing any element of the building that supports another element.

Works that require a Building Permit include:

• changing the height of the house
• increasing or decreasing the floor area
• increasing the size of an opening, such as a doorway or window
• replacing or underpinning the footings (a footing is a structure in the ground that supports the house above)
• removing or altering roof framing to install something such as a skylight, chimney or solar panels
• altering a staircase, including replacing a handrail
• doing repairs that impact a supporting element of the building, for example replacing a roof beam
• making an internal change that affects a supporting element of the building, for example removing a load-bearing wall, beam or column.

You need a Building Permit if your property is on the Victorian Heritage Register. Find this in your VicPlan report by checking for a Heritage Overlay then looking at the schedule number.

Do you need a Building Permit?

• If yes, apply for a Building Permit then go to the next step. 
• If no, go to the next step.

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.