Home builders in Kew
City of Boroondara · Boroondara Planning Scheme · Inner East Melbourne Knockdown rebuild
- Council
- City of Boroondara
- Planning scheme
- Boroondara Planning Scheme
- Overlays mapped here
- Parking Overlay · Heritage Overlay · Built Form Overlay · Environmental Audit Overlay · Design and Development Overlay · Vegetation Protection Overlay · Development Plan Overlay · Special Building Overlay · Land Subject to Inundation Overlay · Development Contributions Plan Overlay · Significant Landscape Overlay
- Residential zones mapped
- GRZ1 general residential zone - schedule 1
GRZ2 general residential zone - schedule 2
GRZ3 general residential zone - schedule 3
GRZ4 general residential zone - schedule 4
GRZ5 general residential zone - schedule 5
NRZ1 neighbourhood residential zone - schedule 1
NRZ3 neighbourhood residential zone - schedule 3 - Bushfire-prone land
- None mapped
- Heritage overlay schedules
- 218
Planning data from Vicmap Planning (DTP Victoria) (CC BY 4.0), read 2026-09-14. Suburb-level, not a report on your block — check your address on VicPlan.
Builders serving Kew
None yet — tell us what you're building and we'll go and find one.
What building in Kew actually involves
The planning data records 218 Heritage Overlay schedules intersecting Kew. That is a density where heritage stops being a box to tick and becomes the thing that decides what the project is.
Heritage is the first question, not a footnote
With that density of overlay, the realistic starting assumption on a Kew block is that heritage controls apply until you have confirmed otherwise. That governs whether you can demolish at all, and it shapes the replacement design far more than a builder's standard range allows for.
Eleven overlay families, not one
Kew also carries vegetation protection, significant landscape, design and development, parking, special building and land-subject-to-inundation controls. Blocks toward the Yarra in particular pick up flood and landscape controls that blocks up near Cotham Road do not. Two Kew addresses can face completely different approval paths.
What this means for a builder
You want someone who has lodged in Boroondara repeatedly and recently, who will read the overlay position before quoting rather than after, and whose design process starts from the heritage citation. A volume builder's facade range is usually the wrong starting point here.
Local landmarks in Kew
- Glenferrie
- Willsmere Village Shopping Centre
- Hyde Park
- Dorothy Rogers Reserve
- Kellet Reserve
- Alexandra Gardens
- Rockingham Reserve
- Pridmore Park
Questions about building in Kew
Is my Kew house heritage listed?
Assume it might be until you have checked. 218 Heritage Overlay schedules intersect Kew — far more than neighbouring suburbs. Your own house need not be individually significant for controls to apply, because overlays cover precincts as well as individual places.
Why do two Kew blocks get such different answers?
Because Kew carries eleven overlay families. Blocks nearer the Yarra pick up flood and landscape controls that blocks near Cotham Road do not, on top of heritage. The overlay set on your specific address is what decides your approval path.
Can I knock down and rebuild in Kew?
Sometimes, and it is the question to settle before you spend money on design. Where a Heritage Overlay applies, demolition itself requires permission and is frequently refused for a contributory building.
Do tree controls apply?
Vegetation protection and significant landscape overlays are both mapped in Kew. Established trees often decide where a new house can physically sit, so get an arborist in before a designer.
How long does approval take compared to a new estate?
Longer, and you should plan for it. A heritage assessment, a character assessment and possible objections are all steps a greenfield slab never has. Ask any builder quoting you to show recent Boroondara approvals and how long each took.