Melbourne — Tier-1 Pillar

Melbourne Rear Extension — ResCode, Planning Permit, Building Permit, Heritage Overlay

Melbourne rear extension reality. ResCode Clause 54/55, planning permit under Victoria Planning Provisions, Heritage Overlay, overshadowing and visual bulk standards, NatHERS thermal envelope, Owners Corp where applicable. A$180K-A$480K typical.

~1 min read·Updated 2026-04-23

A Melbourne rear extension sits under ResCode — the Residential Development Standards at Clauses 54, 55, and 56 of every Victorian planning scheme. A ResCode assessment runs through neighbourhood character, streetscape, site coverage, permeability, overshadowing, visual bulk, privacy, and energy efficiency. Planning Permit is typically required for any extension, especially in Heritage Overlay (HO) suburbs.

Heritage Overlay extends across most of the inner-Melbourne suburbs — Fitzroy, Carlton, North Melbourne, Richmond, Collingwood, Abbotsford, South Yarra, Prahran, St Kilda, Hawthorn, Kew, Camberwell, Malvern, Armadale, Williamstown — with demolition, external alteration, and sometimes interior work triggering a planning permit and heritage adviser review.

AskBaily routes your Melbourne rear extension to a VBA-registered builder who pre-tests against ResCode, handles Heritage Overlay consultation, and lodges both the Planning Permit and Building Permit.

What a Melbourne rear extension involves

Planning. ResCode assessment. Planning Permit required unless within a narrow exempt category.
Building Permit. Via Building Surveyor after planning permit endorsement.
Heritage. Where HO applies, heritage statement and council adviser review.
NatHERS. Thermal envelope modelling to 6 stars (moving to 7).
Owners Corp. OC consent on apartments or terrace lots with common property.
Overshadowing. Maximum 15% additional mid-winter shadow on south-adjacent property's private open space.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need a Planning Permit for a rear extension? Almost always in inner-Melbourne. Outside the HO, some councils allow extension without planning permit inside narrow ResCode exempt categories.

What is ResCode overshadowing? Clause 55.04-5 limits additional shadowing on south-adjacent neighbours' private open space to a 15% increase between 9am and 3pm at the September equinox.

How much does a Melbourne rear extension cost? A$180,000-A$280,000 for a modest single-storey rear addition. A$320,000-A$480,000 for a kitchen-and-living rear extension with high-spec finishes. A$580,000+ for two-storey rear additions.

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Each neighborhood has distinct council + heritage overlay posture. Baily pre-scopes against the specific overlay your home sits under.

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— Francis Baily, 1836

Origin

Who is Baily?

Baily is named after Francis Baily — an English stockbroker who retired at 51, became an astronomer, and in 1836 described something on the edge of a solar eclipse that nobody had properly articulated before: a string of bright beads of sunlight breaking through the valleys along the moon’s rim.

He wasn’t the first to see them. Edmond Halley saw them in 1715 and barely noticed. Baily’s contribution was clarity — describing exactly what was happening, in plain language, so vividly that the whole field of astronomy paid attention. The phenomenon is still called Baily’s beads.

That’s what we wanted our AI to do. Every inbound call and text has signal in it — a homeowner’s real question, a timeline, a budget, a hesitation that means “yes but.” Baily listens to every one, 24/7, and finds the beads of light.

Baily was a businessman before he was a scientist. That’s our vibe too.

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