Dual Occupancy Design in Melbourne: Planning, Approvals and Process
Short answer: A dual occupancy is two homes on one lot, side by side (a duplex) or one behind the other. In Victoria it needs a planning permit, assessed under the Townhouse and Low-Rise Code (Clause 55). If the design meets all 13 deemed-to-comply standards, it may qualify for VicSmart, which aims for a decision within 10 business days. Other controls, such as heritage, flooding, vegetation or design and development overlays, can rule that route out.
Selected projects
Hampton East Dual Occupancy
Hampton East · City of Bayside
Planning permit granted
View project →
Niddrie Dual Occupancy
Niddrie · City of Moonee Valley
Planning permit granted
View project →
Maribyrnong Duplex
Maribyrnong · City of Maribyrnong
Planning permit granted
View project →
Highett Dual Occupancy
Highett · City of Bayside
Planning permit granted
View project →
Two homes on one block, designed around your goals.
We assess your site’s development potential, design both homes together, and prepare the planning permit application, followed by the construction documentation for the building permit. The aim is two homes that fit the street and the surrounding area, suit how you will use them, whether as a family home or an investment, and are designed so council can support them.
What we design
- Side-by-side duplexes
- Front and rear dwellings, with or without retaining the existing home
- Knock down one home and rebuild as two new homes
- Corner sites with each dwelling facing its own street
- Two and three storey dwellings, with basements where the site allows
- Larger sites with three or four dwellings
What we do
- Site assessment: zoning, schedules, overlays, title, covenants and easements
- Feasibility testing against garden area, height and the Clause 55 standards before design begins
- Design of both dwellings as one coordinated scheme, with 3D visualisation where included in your package
- Preparation and lodgement of the planning permit application, managed through to council’s decision
- Construction documentation for the building permit
- Coordination with your licensed land surveyor for the subdivision of titles
Two Ways Through Council
VicSmart
- Aims for a decision within 10 business days
- The design must meet:
- all 13 deemed-to-comply standards
- the zone’s minimum garden area
- the height limit
- the car parking requirements
- No notice to neighbours and no third-party appeals
- Other controls, such as heritage, flooding, vegetation or design and development overlays, can rule this route out
Standard planning permit
- Council has 60 statutory days to decide. If it asks for more information, the count starts again once that is received, so actual times are often much longer and vary between councils
- Neighbours are notified in almost every case
- If the design meets all the deemed-to-comply standards, objectors cannot appeal to VCAT
- If a standard is not met, the design is assessed against its objective, and objectors can appeal to VCAT
Before you start
- VicSmart may be available for your design, but council has the final say. If council decides the application does not qualify, it goes through the standard planning process instead
- The zone sets a minimum garden area: 25% on lots of 400 to 500 m², 30% over 500 to 650 m², and 35% over 650 m²
- Height limits are set by the zone, its schedule and any overlays, so we check them for your site
- On a site in a Heritage Overlay, demolishing the existing house needs a planning permit, and councils often refuse it for significant or contributory buildings. That is why many heritage dual occupancies keep the original house and add the second home behind it
- The planning permit comes first: a building permit cannot be issued until it is granted
- Splitting the land into two titles is a separate subdivision application
From Site Assessment to Building Permit
Site assessment
Planning policies and controls, title, covenants and easements, tested against garden area, height and the Clause 55 standards.
Concept design
Initial layouts for both dwellings, developed from your brief, with a site plan showing how the lot can best be used.
Design development and planning documentation
The design refined with you, with 3D visualisation where included in your package, then the planning drawings and documentation prepared for the planning application.
Planning permit
Where included in your package, we lodge the application and manage it through to council’s decision, including any requests for further information.
Detailed design development
The approved design resolved in detail, coordinated with your engineers and other consultants.
Tender documentation
Drawings and specifications that let builders price the project on the same basis.
Construction documentation
The complete technical set for the building: detailed plans, sections, elevations, construction details and the building specification, coordinated with the engineering and documented to the National Construction Code.
Building permit and subdivision
The building permit is issued by a registered building surveyor. Your licensed land surveyor manages the subdivision that creates the separate titles.
Two Homes, One Considered Design
Dual Occupancy FAQs
Yes. Building two dwellings on a lot in a residential zone needs a planning permit, assessed under the Townhouse and Low-Rise Code (Clause 55). A building permit is also needed, and it cannot be issued until the planning permit is granted.
Since 16 October 2025 (Amendment VC288), yes, if the design meets all 13 deemed-to-comply standards in Clause 55 and the zone’s garden area, height and car parking requirements. Other controls, such as heritage, flooding, vegetation or design and development overlays, can make an application ineligible. VicSmart aims for a decision within 10 business days, with no notice to neighbours and no third-party appeals.
VicSmart aims for 10 business days and a standard planning permit has 60 statutory days. If council asks for more information, the count starts again once a satisfactory response is received, so actual times vary with the council and how complete the application is.
There is no single minimum lot size. The zone and its schedule, the minimum garden area, lot width, access and overlays decide what fits. We check this before any design work starts.
Yes, with a separate subdivision application. A two-lot subdivision where each lot contains a dwelling approved under the two-dwelling permit can use VicSmart. We work with your licensed land surveyor on this step. See Land Subdivisions.
No one can guarantee a planning outcome. Designing to the deemed-to-comply standards from the start gives the best chance and opens the faster routes. Where a standard cannot be met, we explain the risk before you lodge.
First, we check the permit conditions. Most dual occupancy permits require amended plans, and sometimes reports such as a landscape plan, to be endorsed by council before works can start. Then the design moves into detailed design development and construction documentation for the building permit. A planning permit also has expiry dates: unless the permit says otherwise, works must start within three years and be completed within five years, so the timing matters.
Construction can begin. Your builder works from the construction documentation, and the building surveyor inspects the work at the mandatory stages. When the homes are complete, the building surveyor issues an occupancy permit, which allows them to be lived in. If you are subdividing, your land surveyor then finalises the subdivision so each home gets its own title.
General information only, not advice for your property. Planning and building rules, zone schedules and overlays differ from site to site and change over time, so check the current controls for your land with your local council before you rely on them, or contact us for a free consultation.
Sources: Faster approvals for two homes on a lot, Planning Victoria; Guide to Victoria’s planning system: planning permits, Planning Victoria; Building Act 1993, section 24. Last reviewed November 2026.
Thinking About Two Homes on Your Block?
Send us the address. We check what the site can take and which planning route it is likely to qualify for.
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