NE Homes
Aerial view of The Willow, an NE Homes knockdown rebuild in Rowville, between original brick homes on its street

Knockdown Rebuild in Mulgrave

The original Mulgrave house is usually brick veneer from the 1970s or 1980s, on a 650 to 750 square metre block, and most of the suburb is zoned for up to three storeys.

Keep the Mulgrave address, replace the house

When the VFL bought the Waverley Park site in 1962, it was 212 acres of market gardens and grazing land. Mazenod College moved to Mulgrave in 1968 and Wellington Secondary College opened in 1973. Mostly single storey brick veneer houses filled the surrounding streets over the next two decades. Many still stand. The stadium site is housing now, under its own Neighbourhood Character Overlay.

Owners stay for those schools, Jells Park in Wheelers Hill and how quickly Wellington Road gets them onto the Monash Freeway. Selling up means stamp duty on the next place and usually leaving the streets the family chose. A knock down rebuild keeps the address. NE Homes runs it as one contract, from demolition approvals to handover of the new home.

You can build one new house, which we cover under custom home building in Mulgrave, or two, with a dual occupancy on a Mulgrave lot. We work out which suits when we walk the site with you. Our knockdown rebuild service page sets out the full scope, and our guide to building in the Monash corridor covers the wider council area.

In Mulgrave itself we have one custom home on the books, and our dual occupancy near Chadstone is in the same council. The house in the photo is The Willow knockdown rebuild in Rowville, across EastLink. Our page on home building in Mulgrave covers the rest of what we build here.

Street view of The Willow, a two storey knockdown rebuild by NE Homes in Rowville, with a new front garden

What happens before the new slab goes down

Here is what a Mulgrave knockdown rebuild has to clear first, grouped by what is still standing on the block.

  1. Stage 1 · House still standing

    Surveys, permits and moving out

    • An asbestos inspector records what the house contains and where, which sets the removal scope.
    • We map every tree on the block against the cleared-site rules the new design has to meet.
    • A geotechnical engineer tests the open parts of the block, which is all they can reach while the house stands.
    • Demolishing a house in Mulgrave needs a building permit, which the building surveyor cannot issue until the City of Monash gives its report and consent under section 29A of the Building Act. Council has 15 business days to answer, after which the law treats silence as consent.
    • You move out and we arrange the service disconnections.
    • The asbestos removalist takes out what the inspection found.

    These steps overlap, but the inspection comes before the removal and all six finish before demolition.

  2. Stage 2 · House coming down

    Demolition and clearing

    • We protect any tree that is staying before the machinery comes in.
    • The house comes down and the crew clears the block for the soil test.

  3. Stage 3 · Block clear

    Soil test, footings, slab

    • A geotechnical engineer tests the whole block, including the ground the house stood on.
    • We engineer the footings to that report.
    • The slab goes down and the new home is under way.

Asbestos, big trees and clay soil in Mulgrave

Asbestos in a 1970s or 1980s house

Victoria's asbestos guidance says a home built before the mid-1980s is highly likely to contain asbestos products, and one built from then to 1990 is likely to. Most original Mulgrave houses sit in the first group and the late-1980s ones in the second. WorkSafe's rules say to identify the asbestos and, so far as reasonably practicable, remove it before demolition. Anything beyond a small quantity of non-friable material needs a licensed removalist, so we plan for one from the start.

Canopy trees and the overlay on the east side

Since 15 September 2025, clause 52.37 of the planning scheme has covered canopy trees in Mulgrave's General and Neighbourhood Residential Zones. A canopy tree is over 5 metres tall, with a trunk more than 0.5 metres around at 1.4 metres up and a canopy at least 4 metres wide. While the house stands, only boundary canopy trees need a permit to remove or lop: those with a trunk within 4.5 metres of the rear boundary or 6 metres of the street frontage (the narrower one, on a corner block). Once the house is gone, the permit trigger covers the whole block.

Parts of Mulgrave, mostly on the east side, also sit under a Vegetation Protection Overlay for trees over 10 metres tall with a trunk over 0.5 metres around at 1.2 metres. Glen Eira adds a Canopy Tree Protection Local Law on top of the planning scheme, with a separate permit to prune or remove a canopy tree on private land. We plan our custom homes in Bentleigh East around it.

Clay under the old house

The City of Monash says its soil tends to have a strong clay component, from Class S, slightly reactive, up to the highly reactive Classes H1 and H2. Clay moves as it wets and dries. Council advises that the more reactive the soil, the more precision the foundations need. With the old house standing, a geotechnical engineer can only test the open parts of the block, so the retest waits for a clear site.

Knocking down in Mulgrave: the questions that come up first

Do I need a permit to knock down a house in Mulgrave?

Yes, you need a building permit to demolish a house, which the building surveyor cannot issue until the City of Monash consents. You also need a planning permit if an overlay on your property controls demolition, such as a Heritage Overlay, or if a protected tree has to go. We handle all of it under the build contract.

How big a house can I build on a Mulgrave block?

Up to 11 metres and three storeys on most Mulgrave blocks, which are zoned General Residential. The east side is zoned Neighbourhood Residential, limited to two storeys and 9 metres. Neither zone requires a planning permit for one house on a lot of 300 square metres or more, though an overlay on your land or a tree that has to go can still trigger one. A two storey family home fits on a standard 650 to 750 square metre lot. Setbacks, trees and easements usually trim the footprint. We check the zone and every overlay on your address before drawing starts.

Should I knock down and rebuild or renovate my Mulgrave house?

Rebuilding is usually the safer bet for an original Mulgrave house. Renovating one built in the 1970s or 1980s keeps the old footprint and means dealing with any asbestos and decades-old wiring and plumbing before you reach the rooms you wanted to change. A rebuild clears all of that and fixes the price of the new home in the contract. Renovating can still make sense if the house is sound and the layout nearly works. If yours is one, we will say so on site.

How long does a knockdown rebuild take in Mulgrave?

Plan on two stretches: the months of approvals and site work before the slab, then the build programme set in your contract. Our fastest run from first meeting to site start was four months on The Willow in Rowville, including a council planning permit, because the owners knew what they wanted from day one. In Mulgrave the time before the slab also covers council's demolition consent, asbestos removal and any tree permit. You move out before demolition and stay out until handover, so we give you the programme early enough to line up a rental.

Can we keep a big tree when we knock down and rebuild in Mulgrave?

Yes, and we can design the new house around it. The owners of The Willow, our Rowville knockdown rebuild, bought the property for the weeping willow in the backyard and would not lose it, so the alfresco faces the tree and the back of the house opens to it through large picture windows and sliding doors. Keeping a tree decides where the house, driveway and services can go, so we map it before design starts and protect it through demolition.

Talk to us before the house comes down

Book a site visit and we will walk the block with you, trees and all.

Book a ConsultationCall 1300 128 939