For Victorian real estate agents

Say what the land can do, and be right

Development potential sells. Overstating it invites a complaint after settlement, and the arithmetic behind the most common claim is usually wrong.

Where Victoria catches people out

You describe a block as having subdivision potential

The test is not area divided by the minimum. Every resulting lot counts, including the balance lot, so one extra lot needs at least twice the minimum. A block a third over the minimum yields nothing, and the minimum itself comes from the schedule to the zone.

STCA covers you

Subject to council approval describes a process, not a possibility. Where a mandatory control or a covenant prevents the outcome, no approval was ever available to be subject to.

The zone sounds permissive

Zones share names across councils but not schedules, and overlays sit on top. Two comparable-looking properties in the same zone can face quite different height, setback and lot-size controls.

Getting started

The free snapshot is quick enough to run on every appraisal. Where the campaign leans on potential, the $39 Insight turns a claim you hope is right into one you can support.

General information about the Victoria planning system, not advice on a particular site. What applies to a property depends on its zone, the controls affecting it and what is proposed.