Unit and apartment developments

Learn more about unit and apartment planning permits.

There are a range of considerations that decide whether you need a planning permit. A pre-application meeting can help you recognise these and give you some certainty about the outcome of your application.

For more information, visit our pre-application advice page.

Darebin Planning Scheme

Our planning scheme generally encourages the construction of additional houses in existing residential areas. However, we must carefully consider neighbourhood character, the impacts on surrounding properties and amenity for occupants of the new houses.

How many units can I put on my land?

There is no fixed answer to this question. It depends on a number of factors including but not limited to:

  • the scale of the development
  • how close the land is to local services
  • the size of the land
  • neighbouring property issues, such as open space and the location of significant trees

We recommend that you discuss plans for more than one unit on a property with:

  • a private planning consultant
  • a building designer or architect
  • neighbours
  • our planning department before lodging your application.

In all cases, you need a planning permit to build multiple units on land.

Single dwelling covenants

Your property may be affected by a restriction commonly known as a single dwelling covenant. We can't issue a planning permit for more than one house on a property affected by a single dwelling covenant.

Other types of covenants may also affect your proposal. You need to get a recent copy of the Certificate of Title from the Land Titles Office to determine if any covenants affect your property.

You need a planning permit to change or delete a covenant. For more information, please see our restrictive covenants information sheet(PDF, 335KB).

Heritage overlay

A heritage overlay can affect the design and scale of new construction, as well as your ability to demolish buildings. Before lodging your application you should discuss your proposal with our heritage advisor. This will ensure your plans respects the heritage significance of the area or building.

For more information, visit our heritage page.

Development contributions

If you're building or extending a commercial or industrial building, you may need to pay a development contribution to us before we issue a building permit is issued. You should contact us if you need to pay a development contribution.

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