Block Check
Type an address and see what the planning maps say about the block: zone, overlays, size, slope and what a new home would need.
Victorian addresses only. We read the government's planning and land maps for that lot. Nothing you type is stored unless you ask us to email you the report.
Zones, overlays and permits: common questions
How do I find out what zone my property is in?
Type the address into Block Check and pick it from the list. It reads the zone and the council's schedule to it from the Victorian Government's planning maps for that lot. For the official record, get a planning property report for the address from the state's VicPlan service.
What is a planning overlay?
An overlay is an extra layer of planning control on top of the zone, for things like heritage, flooding, bushfire, vegetation or design. Each one can add a planning permit, a report or limits on the design. Block Check lists every overlay that covers any part of the lot and what it means for a new home.
Do I need a planning permit to build a house?
In Victoria's main residential zones, one house on a lot of 300 m² or more doesn't need a planning permit because of the zone. An overlay can still require one, and so can a smaller lot. Two or more homes on a lot always need a planning permit in a residential zone. Every new house needs a building permit from a registered building surveyor.
Want a builder to look at the block?
Send us the address. We will walk the site, read the title and tell you what it would take to build there.
How we worked this out
Everything comes from the Victorian Government's open map data (Vicmap), read live for the address you pick: planning zones and overlays, property and parcel boundaries, easements, designated bushfire prone areas, the Victorian Heritage Register and 1 m contour lines.
Lot size and width are measured from the mapped boundary, so they can differ a little from your title. The slope is worked out from the contour lines that cross the lot. The rules for each zone come from the Victoria Planning Provisions; a council schedule can change some of them, so check the schedule named in the result.