Demolition for a Dual Occupancy or Townhouse Site in Monash: Getting the Sequence Right

Drive through Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley, Mulgrave or Clayton and count the sites with two new townhouses where one 1960s brick veneer used to be. Monash has been one of Melbourne's most active dual-occupancy markets for a decade, and the reasons have not changed: large blocks, good schools, the train line and land values that make a single dwelling on 700 square metres hard to justify.

Every one of those developments begins with a demolition, and development demolition runs to a different rhythm from a family knockdown-rebuild. The permit dictates more, the timing matters more, and the small sequencing mistakes cost real money. This is how to get it right.

The planning permit comes first

The most common and most expensive error on a Monash development site is demolishing before the planning permit for the townhouses is issued. A cleared block sitting vacant for a year while the application works through Monash City Council and, sometimes, VCAT is land earning nothing, attracting rubbish and costing holding interest every month. Worse, if the existing house is covered by a heritage overlay or the permit ends up with conditions about it, an early demolition can breach the permit outright.

The clean order is: planning permit for the development issued, then demolition consent and building permit for the demolition, then the demolition itself timed to hand over to the builder. Our permits and Section 29A consent service handles the demolition approvals and can advise on how they interact with the development permit.

Section 29A and what the council checks

Every demolition in Victoria needs report and consent from the council under Section 29A of the Building Act before the building surveyor issues the demolition permit. In Monash that is mostly a heritage check, and while the municipality has fewer overlays than the inner east, there are listed properties and precincts in Glen Waverley, Mount Waverley and Oakleigh. Check the planning property report before you buy a development site, not after.

Monash tree controls

Monash has a local law protecting canopy trees on private land, and it is the thing most likely to catch a developer off guard. Trees above the size thresholds in the local law need a permit to remove, and on a dual-occupancy site the trees are usually right where the second dwelling goes. The development permit will typically specify which trees are retained and which may be removed, and it will require tree protection zones for the retained ones.

For the demolition, that means fencing the protection zones before any machine arrives, adjusting how the house comes down so roots are not compacted or cut, and removing only the trees the permit allows. Getting this wrong attracts penalties and, more practically, can delay the building permit for the new dwellings.

Services must be abolished, not just disconnected

A development site needs every existing service abolished at the street, because each new dwelling will get its own connections. Electricity abolishment through the distributor, gas abolishment, water and sewer disconnection where the water authority specifies, and telecommunications removal all have lead times measured in weeks, and they cannot be shortcut. Lodge the abolishment applications as soon as the demolition date is set, ideally the day the planning permit lands.

Where the new sewer and stormwater connections will go also affects the demolition: whether old drains are removed or capped and where, and whether the existing legal point of discharge is being reused.

Neighbours, boundaries and tight sites

Dual-occupancy designs push the new dwellings out toward the side boundaries, so the demolition often happens within a metre or two of the neighbours' houses, garages and fences. Where the work could affect an adjoining property, a protection work notice under the Building Act may be required and the neighbour's building is protected during the works. Shared fences that come down need a conversation with the neighbour before, not after, and the fencing law sets out how replacement costs are shared.

On the narrower Monash blocks, access down the side to the rear of the site can be tight, which limits machine size. It is a routine constraint for us across Wheelers Hill, Mulgrave and Clayton, but it should be known at quoting.

Asbestos in the housing stock being replaced

The houses coming down across Monash for dual occupancies are overwhelmingly 1950s to 1970s brick veneers and weatherboards, and most of them contain asbestos somewhere: eaves, fibro sheds and garages, wet-area linings, fences, sometimes vinyl floor tiles. It is identified, removed under licence and documented before general demolition, and the clearance forms part of the handover. Budget it as a line item on every site of that era rather than a contingency.

Slab, pool and the builder's handover state

The townhouse builder needs the block in a specific state, and the demolition scope should match it: existing slab and footings removed where they clash with the new footprint, any pool removed and the void filled and compacted to an engineer's specification if a dwelling is going over it, and the site levelled or left at grade as the builder requires. Ask the builder for their site requirements before the demolition is scoped. A block handed over in the wrong state means a second mobilisation.

Timing it to the build

Most developers want the demolition finished shortly before the builder's site start. We work back from that date: the abolishment lead times, the asbestos removal, the demolition and site clear, and the certificates the builder will ask for. The on-site demolition of a single Monash house with a garage and pool is a matter of days once the services are gone; the weeks are in the approvals and abolishment before it. Our knockdown-rebuild site preparation page covers what the finished site looks like.

Getting a development site quoted

For a dual-occupancy or townhouse demolition we quote from the endorsed plans, a site visit and the builder's requirements, and the price is fixed for that scope. If you are looking at a block in Glen Waverley or anywhere across Monash and want to understand the demolition cost, the tree constraints and the timing before you commit, send the address and any plans. We will tell you what is on the site and what it will take to clear it.