Heritage Overlays: What You Can and Cannot Change
14 August 2026
A heritage overlay is not a ban on renovating. It is a set of rules about what is visible from the street — and the rear of your house is usually fair game.
A family-run building company renovating and extending homes across Melbourne — on a fixed price, with one supervisor and no surprises.
Unik Home Development Pty Ltd started with two carpenters, one ute and a stubborn belief that a builder should be the easiest part of building a home. Seventeen years on we are a full-service building company — but that belief has not changed.
We do three things on domestic houses right across Melbourne: house extensions, full home renovations, and bathrooms, kitchens and laundries. Some clients come to us with finished architectural drawings. Others come with a house and a list of what is not working. Both are welcome.
What we will not do is quote a price we cannot hold, or start a job we cannot properly resource. That is why our program dates are realistic and our contracts are fixed.
They are not slogans — they are the rules we quote by, build by and answer to when something goes wrong on site.
The parts nobody sees — framing, waterproofing, flashings — are done properly, because they are what decides whether a house is still sound in thirty years.
A fixed price, an itemised inclusions list and a build program with real dates. If something changes, you hear it from us first and in writing.
One supervisor, one phone number, weekly photo updates, and a defect walk-through we actually want you to be thorough about.
Four straightforward stages, so you always know what happens next and what it will cost before work begins.
Tell us about the site, the home you have in mind and when you would like the work done.
We assess the block, access and scope on site, then price the work specifically for your project.
Surfaces are levelled, services connected and the frame set out before a single wall goes up.
Fit-off, detailing and cleaning are completed, then we walk the finished home through with you.
4.9 average client rating
We interviewed four builders and Unik were the only ones who talked us out of things. The fixed price held from contract to handover — not one variation we did not ask for ourselves.
Our block has a four metre fall and two builders walked away from it. Unik engineered it properly, explained every cost up front, and the retaining work is genuinely beautiful.
Weekly photos meant we could follow the whole build from interstate. The handover pack had every certificate and warranty in it. Our second project with them starts in March.
A heritage overlay is not a ban on renovating. It is a set of rules about what is visible from the street — and the rear of your house is usually fair game.
From first sketch to handover, a realistic programme for a Melbourne new build — including the approval months most timelines quietly leave out.
Slope is not the problem. Fighting the slope is. How split levels, suspended slabs and honest early engineering keep a difficult site affordable.
Like what you see?
We take on a limited number of jobs at a time so every site gets proper attention. Get in early to lock in your spot.
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