Why feasibility comes first
Design fees on a dual occupancy run into five figures well before a permit is lodged. Spending them on a block that was never going to support two dwellings is the most expensive mistake in this part of the market, and it is entirely avoidable.
The five checks
- Zone and schedule. General Residential, Neighbourhood Residential and Residential Growth zones each set different height and garden-area requirements. The schedule to the zone matters as much as the zone itself.
- Overlays. Heritage, significant landscape, special building and bushfire overlays each add a layer of assessment and can rule out a second dwelling entirely.
- Frontage and access. A single crossover serving two dwellings needs enough width for passing and turning. Battle-axe access has its own minimum dimensions.
- Garden area and private open space. Victoria’s mandatory garden area requirement catches a lot of otherwise workable blocks, particularly between 400 and 500 square metres.
- Easements and services. A sewer easement down the middle of a block will usually decide the layout before an architect does.
What the numbers need to show
A feasibility is not just planning. It should put the likely build cost, the holding costs during construction and the realistic end value of both dwellings side by side. If the margin between total cost and combined value is thin, the honest answer is that the project is not worth the risk — and we would rather say so at this stage than after you have spent the design fees.
Send us the address and we will run all five checks and come back with a yes, a no, or what would have to change.
