Knockdown Rebuild — Melbourne's South East
Love your street.
Rebuild the home.
The block is perfect. The neighbours are gold. The school zone took years to get into. Keep all of it — and replace the tired house with the home it always deserved.
Why knock down and rebuild?
Four reasons the block wins.
Live where you love
The street trees, the neighbours, the school zone — the things you can't buy back once you sell. A rebuild keeps every one of them.
Design from a blank page
No load-bearing compromises, no working around 1970s plumbing. Every room faces the right way because nothing was there to stop it.
Cost certainty
Major renovations routinely blow out 20–40% once the walls open. A rebuild is fixed-price from day one — and skips stamp duty and agent fees entirely.
A home that performs
Current-standard engineering, insulation and glazing. Lower bills, quieter rooms, and a 10-year structural guarantee on all of it.
Renovate or rebuild?
The honest comparison.
Major renovation
- ✗Open-ended cost — blowouts of 20–40% are routine once walls open
- ✗New money wrapped around old structure, wiring and plumbing
- ✗Compromised layout — you design around what's already there
- ✗Old energy performance, old maintenance bills
Knockdown rebuild
- ✓Fixed price from day one — no discovery surprises
- ✓A 100% new home engineered to current standards
- ✓Designed for how you live, not around old walls
- ✓No stamp duty, no agent fees, same neighbourhood
- ✓10-year structural guarantee on everything
The knockdown rebuild journey
Six steps. One contract.
Zero council phone calls.
Free Site Assessment
Jarrod walks your existing block — orientation, slope, services, easements, council overlays — and tells you straight whether a rebuild beats a renovation for your home and budget.
Free · about an hour on site
Concept & Fixed Quote
We design the new home around everything you love about the address — the street trees, the school zone, the neighbours — and fix the price before you commit.
Design 6–10 weeks
Contracts, Permits & Demolition
We manage the demolition contractor, asbestos checks, service disconnections and both planning and building permits. One contract, one contact, zero council phone calls for you.
Demolition $20–40k typical · permits 6–12 wks
Site Prep & Slab
Old slab out, soil retested, new engineering to suit — the invisible work that decides whether a home lasts. This is where cheap rebuilds cut corners. We don't.
Engineering to current standards
Craftsman Build
Your new home rises on the block you already love, built by the same director-led team as every Humble Abode project, with milestone walk-throughs throughout.
Typical build 9–12 months
Handover & Guarantee
Keys to a brand-new home at your old address — with a 10-year structural guarantee and a builder who still answers your calls after handover.
10-year structural guarantee
Straight answers
Knockdown rebuild FAQs.
Should I renovate or rebuild? +
If your home needs new everything — roof, wiring, plumbing, layout — a rebuild usually wins. Renovations of that scale routinely blow out 20–40% because you're paying to discover problems; a rebuild is priced fixed from day one, and you end up with a new home engineered to current standards rather than a patched old one. We'll give you an honest read at the free site assessment, including when a renovation genuinely is the better call.
What does demolition cost, and who arranges it? +
Typically $20,000–$40,000 for an average Melbourne home, depending on size, asbestos and access. We arrange and manage it — contractor, permits, asbestos assessment and service disconnections — under the one contract.
Can we live in the house during any of it? +
No — once demolition starts the site is closed for safety and insurance. Most clients rent nearby or stay with family; the full program from demolition to handover typically runs 12–16 months, and we give you an honest timeline before you give notice anywhere.
Do we pay stamp duty? +
No — that's one of the big wins. Rebuilding on land you own means no stamp duty, no agent's fees, no moving out of the school zone. On a $1.5M change-over, that's routinely six figures saved.
What about permits and council? +
We manage planning and building permits end to end. Budget guidance: planning $200–$1,500 and 4–8 weeks; building permit $1,000–$5,000 and 2–4 weeks; demolition permit $100–$500. Numbers vary by council — we confirm for your address at the site assessment.
Our block is sloping / tight / oddly shaped. Problem? +
The opposite — it's where custom builders earn their keep. Volume builders price difficult blocks out with 'site cost' surprises; we design for the block from the start and fix the price.
Start the conversation
Wondering what your block could hold? Ask.
Free site assessment with Jarrod — feasibility, honest costs and a straight renovate-or-rebuild answer.