Knock down rebuild Geelong.
You already found the right street.
Let’s build the right house on it.
The hardest part of building is finding the land. If you are already living somewhere you love, near the school you want, ten minutes from work, around the corner from your parents, then you have solved the problem most people spend years trying to solve.
Building across Greater Geelong since 2016. Over 200 homes delivered. HIA and Master Builders award winners.
Is your block right for a rebuild?
Start with the address. We check the overlays, the zoning and the site, and tell you honestly.
Prefer to talk? Call(03) 5240 9300.
What is a knock down rebuild?
A knock down rebuild means demolishing the existing house on a block you already own and building a new home in its place. You keep the land, the location and the neighbours. You replace the house.
It is different from buying an established home, where you take on someone else’s floorplan and someone else’s compromises. And it is different from a house and land package, where you are moving somewhere new entirely.
For a lot of Geelong families, it is the only way to get a home that suits how they actually live without leaving the suburb they want to stay in.
Is your block right for a rebuild?
Not every block is. Before you get attached to the idea, there are a handful of things worth knowing about your property, and most of them can be checked in an afternoon.
Signs your home is a rebuild candidate.
Some houses are worth saving. Others simply do not work, and no amount of patching changes that. In our experience these are the homes where a rebuild makes the most sense:
The floorplan fights you. The kitchen is a closed room at the back, the living areas do not connect, and no amount of wall removal fixes the fundamental layout.
It is cold in winter and hot in summer. Single glazing, no insulation in the walls, and a heating bill that keeps climbing.
The bones are tired. Restumping, rewiring, replumbing and a new roof, all at once, before you have improved a single thing you can see.
You need more bedrooms or a second living area and there is nowhere sensible to put them.
Every quote you get to fix the existing house lands uncomfortably close to what a new home would cost.
What we look at on your block.
Most designs suit blocks from around 12.5m frontage. Narrow lot and double storey options for the tighter blocks.
Changes your slab design and can add real money. It also opens up split level options a flat block never gives you.
Which way north faces sets where the living areas want to be, and feeds into energy efficiency requirements.
The one that catches people out. More on it below.
Sewer and water mains cross a great many established back yards. Building over one needs Barwon Water approval.
Whether a demolition machine and a concrete truck can get in, and what has to be protected on the way through.
Excavating close to a boundary can trigger protection work notices and a dilapidation report next door.
The quickest way to find out.
Send us your address. We will pull the planning property report, check the overlays, look at the block dimensions and the likely site conditions, and tell you honestly whether a rebuild stacks up.
Rebuild, buy or subdivide.
Three ways to end up in a better house. Here is how they actually compare.
The subdivision option.
If you are sitting on an older house on a larger block, and Belmont, Grovedale, Newcomb, Highton and parts of Leopold are full of them, a rebuild is not your only move. Depending on your zoning, minimum lot sizes and access, you may be able to demolish and build two dwellings where one stood.
It is more complex, but it can change the economics of the whole project, and it is worth knowing whether your block allows it before you decide anything else. We will flag it in your block assessment if we think it is on the table.
What does a knock down rebuild cost in Geelong?
Most builders keep this vague. We would rather give you real ranges, with the caveat that every block is different and the only figure that matters is the one on your contract.
Here is what makes up the total.
Demolition.
Demolishing a single storey home in the Geelong region typically runs between $15,000 and $45,000, and a double storey between $20,000 and $50,000. The demolition permit itself is $200 to $500. Service disconnections and tip fees are usually bundled into the demolition quote. Where you land in the range depends on:
- Whether the house is brick, weatherboard or clad
- Single or double storey
- How much of the site the machine can reach, and how much has to come out by hand
- Outbuildings, sheds, pools, driveways and paving
- What is in the walls, which brings us to the next one
Asbestos.
If your home was built before 1990, assume there is asbestos in it until a survey says otherwise. Later homes can contain it too, where earlier materials were reused. In Geelong that covers a very large share of the housing stock in Norlane, Corio, Whittington, Belmont, East Geelong and Herne Hill, among others.
It is not a reason to walk away from a rebuild. It is a reason to know before you budget. Bonded asbestos in eaves and sheeting is routine work for a licensed removalist. Friable asbestos is a bigger job and requires a Class A licensed contractor under WorkSafe Victoria rules. Either way the material has to go to a licensed disposal facility and the paperwork has to be right.
Removal typically runs $2,000 to $15,000 and more, and it is highly variable. We arrange the survey as part of pre demolition so the cost is known and in your contract, not discovered halfway through.
Site costs.
Site costs are where rebuild budgets most often move, and they are almost entirely determined by things you cannot see from the street. On a flat block, allow around $40,000. On a block with up to a ten metre fall, they can reach $200,000. Connecting services to the new dwelling adds $5,000 to $15,000. Six things drive it:
Reactive clay inland, coastal sands nearer the water. The classification drives your slab and footing design.
How much earth has to move before a slab can go down.
Significant trees may be protected by an overlay or local law. Street trees always are.
Power, gas, water, sewer and telecommunications, disconnected before demolition and reconnected after. Long lead times, so we start early.
Where the water goes, and what it costs to get it there.
A council asset protection permit is required, and a new or widened crossover is a separate approval.
Permits and approvals.
Building permits for both the demolition and the new home, section 29A demolition consent, possibly a planning permit, possibly report and consent, an asset protection permit, and any overlay specific assessments. Fees vary by council and by the value of the works.
The new home itself.
What sits inside that number: the base facade, standard inclusions and the base inclusions package. Silver, Gold and Platinum inclusion upgrades are available at $15,000, $30,000 and $58,000 respectively.
Measured by the square, a standard build sits at around $17,000 a square, and a premium or fully custom build between $25,000 and $35,000 a square.
The cost nobody budgets for.
You have to live somewhere for the length of the build.
For a single storey home that is around 9 months of construction, and for a double storey around 12. You stay in your house through design and approvals. You move out at demolition. So the period you are actually living somewhere else is the demolition and site preparation, plus the build itself, which is roughly seven to eleven months depending on whether you are building single or double storey.
If you are renting during that time, that is rent on top of your existing mortgage. Rentals across the region run $400 to $700 a week, so seven to eleven months is somewhere between $12,000 and $34,000. It is usually the largest hidden cost in a knock down rebuild and it rarely appears on a builder’s website.
We raise it in the first meeting, not the last, because it can influence the decisions people make. Some families choose to move in with parents, while others arrange temporary accommodation or time the build around an existing lease. Either way, it’s much easier to plan for these costs upfront than be surprised by them once construction is underway.
Budget for storage at $100 to $300 a month, construction loan establishment and valuation fees of $600 to $1,500, removal, mail redirection, and the fact that your council rates, land tax where it applies and insurance obligations do not stop while the block is empty. Vacant land insurance is worth a conversation with your broker.
Putting it together.
Broad Victorian and regional industry estimates, current as at August 2026. Council permit fees should be confirmed against the current schedule. Your fixed price contract is the only number that binds either of us.
How a knock down rebuild works with Enso.
Ten stages, start to finish. Nothing moves to the next one until the last one is properly done.
Stages 7 to 10 are the knock down rebuild view of the Site Preparation, Base, Frame, Lock-Up, Fixing, Practical Completion and Handover stages set out inyour journey with us. Same process, described for a rebuild.
Block assessment
Send us your address. We check overlays, zoning, block dimensions and slope, and tell you whether a rebuild stacks up. Free, and no obligation either way.
Discovery session
We sit down and talk about how you live, what is not working in the current house, and what your budget needs to do. This is where we work out whether one of our designs suits your block or whether you need something custom.
Design and preliminary pricing
We match a design to your block, or draw one from scratch. Our three routes are our pre designed homes, “make ours yours” where you reconfigure a standard design without redesign fees, and a fully custom home.
Site investigations
Soil test, feature and level survey, asbestos survey, service locations. This is where the site costs stop being estimates.
Permits and approvals
Planning permit if your overlays require one, then section 29A consent for the demolition, the building permits, the asset protection permit and any overlay specific reports. Order matters here and we explain why below.
Contract
A fixed price contract, signed after the site investigations are done rather than before. The things that can move the number after that are changes you ask for, or a variation required by an authority.
Demolition and site preparation
Services disconnected and abolished, the house comes down, the site is cleared and levelled, and your supervisor runs a pre site inspection before anything is poured.
Construction
Base, frame, lock up and fixing stages, with progress payments at each. An independent inspector from BPI360 checks the work at pre pour, frame and pre plaster, on top of your project manager’s own inspections.
Practical completion
Final inspection, handover walkthrough, keys.
Aftercare
We check in at three months. Anything that needs attention is documented and actioned in line with your warranty and the VBA Guide to Standards and Tolerances.
How long does it take?
Design and approvals, minimum, from deposit to site start. Often longer if a planning permit is involved.
Demolition and site prep, typically, once approvals are in hand.
Construction, single storey, approximately.
Construction, double storey, approximately.
Realistically, plan for twelve to eighteen months from your first conversation with us to the day you get the keys. If a timeline you have been quoted looks shorter than that, it is worth asking whether it includes the approvals period.
Permits and planning in Geelong, the Bellarine and the Surf Coast.
Most of the delay in a knock down rebuild happens before a machine ever arrives. Here is what actually has to happen, and in what order.
Planning permit or building permit, and why the order matters.
These are two different approvals from two different processes and people mix them up constantly.
There is no separate document called a demolition permit in Victoria, despite the term being in common use.
Where a planning permit is required, it must be issued and approved before the building permit.
The City of Greater Geelong states this plainly, and that sequencing is the most common cause of timeline blowouts on a knock down rebuild.
It is why we investigate overlays at the block assessment stage rather than after you have signed something.
Section 29A demolition consent.
Here is the one that catches people out, and it applies whether or not you are in a Heritage Overlay.
Under section 29A of the Building Act, your building surveyor must refer a demolition application to council for consent before the building permit for demolition can issue. Council can consider things like the streetscape and whether the building has heritage value that has not yet been formally recognised, and it can refuse. It is a real risk on older streets in Newtown, Geelong West and East Geelong, and it is a common reason a rebuild that looked straightforward suddenly does not proceed.
We check for this at the block assessment stage, before you have spent anything.
Reference: City of Greater Geelong, Council consents
Report and consent.
Separately again, if part of your design does not meet a siting requirement of the Building Regulations 2018, for example setbacks, site coverage, overshadowing or building height, you need council’s report and consent before the building surveyor can issue the building permit. It is a distinct application with its own timeline, and on tight established blocks it comes up more often than you would think.
Reference: City of Greater Geelong, Council consents
Designing for an established block.
Building on an established block is a different discipline from building on a greenfield estate. The lot is often a different shape, the neighbours are already there, the trees are mature, and the street has a character your house has to sit inside.
That suits us. We have delivered homes in Newtown, Highton, East Geelong, Bell Post Hill, Hamlyn Heights, Fyansford, Wandana Heights and Barwon Heads, alongside our work across Armstrong Creek, Torquay, Ocean Grove and Point Lonsdale.
Three ways to get to your design.
Our pre designed homes.
Twenty five thoughtfully designed floorplans and facades, ready to go, from 17 to 48 squares.
Make ours yours.
Take one of our standard designs and reconfigure it. Move a wall, flip the plan, change the facade, rework the kitchen. No redesign fees within the scope of a standard modification. Tweaking a standard floorplan is usually much more affordable than people expect.
A fully custom home.
Starting from a blank page, or from plans you already have. Our principal draftsperson has fourteen years in the field and has designed many of our facades including the multi award-winning Aria façade.
Designs that suit an established block.
View all house designs
A new home meets standards your old one never could.
This is one of the quiet arguments for rebuilding. A new home built today has to meet current energy efficiency requirements across the whole building, not just the part you touched. Insulation, glazing, sealing, orientation and appliance efficiency all work together, and the difference in day to day comfort and running cost against a 1970s brick veneer is not subtle.
Victoria’s requirements for new homes have moved quickly, covering energy rating, glazing, sealing and electrification. We build to the standard current at the time your permit issues, and we walk you through what it means for your home during design rather than leaving it in the specification.
Why more Geelong families are rebuilding.
Council policy, block sizes and buyer demand are all pointing the same way.
Council’s own Settlement Strategy recommends increasing infill development’s contribution to housing supply to 50 per cent by 2047, up from around 25 per cent today. In plain language, council policy is to double the share of new homes built inside established suburbs rather than on the fringe.
At the same time, greenfield blocks have been shrinking. The average new lot in Greater Geelong fell from 646 square metres in 2007-08 to 476 square metres in 2015-16. If you are sitting on an established block of 600 or 700 square metres, you own something that is no longer being made.
And the region keeps growing. The Northern and Western Geelong Growth Areas are the largest urban growth project in regional Victoria and are expected to welcome more than 110,000 new residents.
There is also what buyers are paying. In Newtown, four bedroom houses have been selling at a median around $1.4 million against roughly $985,000 for three bedroom houses. In Torquay the equivalent figures are about $1.255 million and $992,500.
We want to be careful about what that does and does not tell you. That gap reflects land size, position and house size as much as it reflects age or condition, so it is not a forecast of what a rebuild would add to your property. Building costs money and there is no guarantee you get it back. What the numbers do show is that demand for larger, newer homes in established Geelong suburbs is real and consistent.
Source: Domain suburb medians, houses sold in the twelve months to August 2026. Medians move and should be refreshed at least annually. This is general information, not financial or investment advice.
Where we build.
Our standard build zone covers Greater Geelong, Golden Plains, the Bellarine Peninsula and the Surf Coast. If your block sits outside it, ask us anyway.
Greater Geelong
Newtown, Geelong West, Manifold Heights, Herne Hill, Hamlyn Heights, Bell Post Hill, North Geelong, Rippleside, Drumcondra, East Geelong, Newcomb, St Albans Park, Whittington, Thomson, Belmont, Highton, Wandana Heights, Grovedale, Waurn Ponds, Marshall, Armstrong Creek, Mount Duneed, Charlemont, Fyansford, Batesford, Ceres, Lara, Corio, Norlane
Bellarine Peninsula
Ocean Grove, Barwon Heads, Point Lonsdale, Queenscliff, Drysdale, Clifton Springs, Curlewis, Leopold, Portarlington, Indented Head, St Leonards, Wallington, Marcus Hill
Surf Coast
Torquay, Jan Juc, Bellbrae, Moriac, Winchelsea
Golden Plains
Bannockburn, Inverleigh, Teesdale, Shelford
Why families choose us for a rebuild.
Fewer builds on purpose, so every project gets the attention it deserves.
Founded by Lee and Holly Selkrig. Our office is on Latrobe Terrace, Geelong West.
Your project manager, plus a third party inspector from BPI360 at pre pour, frame and pre plaster.
Fixed price contracts signed after the soil test, survey and service investigations, not before.
HIA Emerging Builder Victoria 2023, HIA Western Victoria Project Home 2025, MBV Best Custom Home.
A Geelong rebuild, start to finish.
Owner quote on the decision to rebuild.
Project to be selected from the Enso portfolio. A build on a demolished site or an established infill block works just as well as a full knock down rebuild, provided it is real.
The Geelong knock down rebuild checklist.
Everything on this page, condensed into a checklist you can take to your block. Overlays to look up, questions to ask council, and the costs to budget for before you talk to anyone.
Knock down rebuild questions, answered.
Still stuck on something? Call us on (03) 5240 9300.
How much does a knock down rebuild cost in Geelong?+
Demolition typically runs $15,000 to $50,000, site costs from around $40,000 on a flat block, permits and reports on top, and then the home itself. Our designs start from $340,900 but the honest answer is that the number depends on your block, which is why we do a free block assessment before quoting anything.
How long does a knock down rebuild take?+
Plan for twelve to eighteen months end to end. Design and approvals take a minimum of three months from deposit, demolition and site prep a few weeks, and construction around nine months for a single storey home or twelve for a double storey.
Do I need council approval to knock down my house?+
Yes, in more than one way. You need a building permit for the demolition, and your building surveyor has to refer that application to council for consent under section 29A of the Building Act. Council can refuse on streetscape or heritage grounds even where there is no Heritage Overlay. You may also need a planning permit depending on the overlays on your property. We check all of this in your block assessment.
Can I knock down a house in a heritage overlay?+
Usually not. Council’s position is that demolition of a heritage listed building is considered only in exceptional circumstances, and poor condition alone is not sufficient grounds. If that is where your block sits, we will tell you at the block assessment stage rather than after you have spent anything.
What if my house has asbestos?+
It probably does, if it was built before 1990, and it is manageable. A survey identifies what is there, licensed removalists handle it under WorkSafe Victoria rules, and it goes to a licensed disposal facility. We build the survey into the pre demolition stage so the cost is known upfront.
Where do we live during the build?+
You can stay in your home right up until demolition, which means you only need somewhere else for the demolition and construction period, roughly seven to twelve months. Most of our clients rent, some stay with family. It is a real cost and we would rather talk about it in the first meeting than have it surprise you in month three.
How do I finance a knock down rebuild?+
Usually a construction loan, which draws down in stages that match our progress payments rather than lending you the whole amount upfront. Your existing mortgage and the land you own both factor in. Talk to your broker or lender early, because their assessment can affect your timeline.
Can I build a double storey on my block?+
Often, yes. Height, setbacks and overshadowing are controlled by the planning scheme and by any overlay on your property, and on some blocks a double storey is the only way to get the space you want. We have double storey designs and we will tell you at the assessment stage whether your block supports one.
Can I make changes to your designs?+
Yes. You can take one of our standard designs and reconfigure it, with no redesign fees for standard modifications, or we can design a home from scratch. Most people are surprised at how affordable modifying a standard plan can be.
Let’s have a look at your block.
Send us your address and we will check the overlays, the zoning and the site, and tell you honestly whether a knock down rebuild makes sense for you. No cost, no obligation, and if the answer is no we will say so.
Prefer to talk? Call us on (03) 5240 9300.
