To begin, we kindly ask that you share some initial details about your project. This allows us to assess whether our company is the right fit for your needs. Once reviewed, a member of our team will be in touch within five business days to discuss the next steps.
Building in Kew, where Victorian and Edwardian homes set the standard for every renovation decision made.
Kew sits six kilometres east of Melbourne's CBD within the City of Boroondara, occupying elevated land along the Yarra River corridor that has shaped one of Melbourne's most architecturally consistent and high-value residential suburbs for well over a century. Its housing stock is predominantly Victorian and Edwardian, with Federation homes, Californian Bungalows from the inter-war period, and a smaller number of mid-century residences rounding out the streetscape across its 10.5 square kilometres.
Each era brings its own structural reality. Victorian homes built through the late 1800s present with original timber framing, high ceilings, ornate plasterwork, and narrow room configurations that were designed around a completely different way of living. Edwardian properties, typically built between 1901 and 1918, offer more internal proportion, ceiling heights between 3.0 and 3.3 metres, wider hallways, and deeper blocks that provide genuine scope for rear extensions when City of Boroondara's planning controls allow it. Californian Bungalows from the 1920s and 1930s bring clinker brick construction, original timber detailing, and layouts that rarely suit the open-plan living Kew families expect today. Every one of these home types requires a different building approach, and a builder who works across all of them needs to understand what each one demands structurally before a single decision is made.
Heritage Overlay controls apply broadly across Kew under the Boroondara Planning Scheme, with the Sackville Ward precinct along Glenferrie and Cotham Roads representing one of the suburb's most significant concentrations of protected Edwardian and Federation architecture. For homeowners in these areas, understanding what the overlay allows, what it restricts, and what triggers a planning permit is not optional. It is the starting point of any serious renovation or extension conversation.
Kew is a suburb that does not need to announce itself. The wide, tree-lined streets, the consistency of the architecture, the proximity to Studley Park and the Yarra River corridor, and the density of genuinely excellent schools within the postcode all speak for themselves to the families who choose to live here and consistently choose to stay.
Kew Junction is where the suburb operates on a daily level. High Street runs through it with the kind of strip that serves residents rather than performs for visitors. Leo's Fine Food and Wine, Frank and Harri, and a concentration of independent cafes and restaurants mean that most of what a Kew household needs on any given week is within walking distance of home. The tram network, with 33 stops across the suburb, connects residents to the CBD in around 25 minutes without a car.
The schools are what anchor families here for the long term. Xavier College, Methodist Ladies' College, Trinity Grammar, Ruyton Girls' School, Genazzano FCJ College, and Carey Baptist Grammar all share the 3101 postcode. Kew High School serves the public secondary cohort. Families who arrive in Kew when their children are young rarely leave before they graduate, and many do not leave after that either.
Studley Park and Yarra Bend Park form the suburb's natural boundary to the west, offering the largest area of native bushland close to Melbourne's CBD. The Studley Park Boathouse, Australia's oldest continuously operating boathouse, sits on the Yarra below the park's escarpment. These are not amenities that residents visit occasionally. They are part of the daily rhythm of the suburb, used by the same people on the same routes, week after week.
That consistency is what defines Kew. Families here are long-term investors in the suburb, in its schools, its streets, and the homes they have chosen to build a life in.
We understand what Kew's housing stock actually demands.Victorian, Edwardian, and Californian Bungalow homes each present different structural realities, different construction methods, and different planning considerations under the Boroondara Planning Scheme. We understand the architecture of each era, what renovating or extending each one requires, and what City of Boroondara's Heritage Overlay controls mean for your specific property before a single decision is made.
One licensed builder personally managing your Kew project from first visit to final handover.Zac Porter, BPC DB-U 100-151, personally manages every home renovation, extension, kitchen renovation, and bathroom renovation we deliver in Kew. Kew homeowners make long-term decisions on high-value properties and deserve a builder who is present, reachable, and accountable every day of the build, not a site supervisor they have never met.
Fixed-price contracts that protect a $2.7 million decision.With median house prices above $2.7 million in 2026, building in Kew is one of the most significant financial decisions a homeowner makes. Our fixed-price contracts mean the number agreed before construction begins is the number you pay. No variations you did not approve. No unexpected costs mid-build. No exceptions.
A builder who knows Boroondara's planning controls before you need to.Heritage Overlay controls catch many Kew homeowners off guard when they begin planning a renovation or extension. We assess your property's specific planning conditions at the very first meeting so you never commit time or money to a project without a clear picture of what it requires. That assessment is part of every first conversation we have with a Kew homeowner, and it costs you nothing to have it.
Heritage Overlay Controls: Kew sits within the City of Boroondara and Heritage Overlay controls apply broadly across the suburb under the Boroondara Planning Scheme. These controls protect places of aesthetic, social, and historical significance. If your Kew property falls within a Heritage Overlay, a planning permit is required from City of Boroondara Council before any demolition, construction, alteration, or extension proceeds.
Heritage Grading: Every property within a Heritage Overlay in Boroondara carries a grading that directly affects how Council assesses planning permit applications. Significant properties are individually important and contribute to the heritage significance of their precinct. Contributory properties contribute to the significance of a precinct alongside other heritage places. Non-contributory properties have no individual heritage significance but can still affect surrounding heritage places. Your property's grading determines the approval pathway and what changes are and are not permissible.
The Sackville Ward Precinct: The Sackville Ward, bounded broadly by Glenferrie and Cotham Roads, contains one of Kew's most significant concentrations of protected Edwardian and Federation architecture. Properties within this precinct are subject to specific heritage controls and require careful assessment before any external works are planned.
What Triggers a Planning Permit in Kew: Extensions and additions to your home, alterations to rooflines, structural changes, demolition, new front fences, and in some cases external painting where specific paint controls apply to your heritage schedule all require a planning permit from City of Boroondara Council. A planning permit is also required where an Environmental Significance Overlay or Significant Landscape Overlay applies to your property.
Heritage Does Not Mean No Changes: Alterations and extensions to heritage properties in Kew do not need to replicate the original building. City of Boroondara supports contemporary additions provided they are sympathetic to the heritage values of the property and do not negatively impact the significance of the precinct. The overlay protects the streetscape, not every internal decision you make.
Internal Works: Internal alterations including bathroom renovations and kitchen renovations generally do not require a planning permit in Kew unless your specific property has internal controls noted in its Heritage Overlay schedule. These works proceed under a building permit only.
Planning Permit vs Building Permit: These are two entirely separate legal requirements under Victorian law. The planning permit deals with land use and design under City of Boroondara's planning scheme. The building permit deals with construction safety and compliance under the Building Act 1993. Both are typically required for extensions, additions, and structural works in Kew, and the planning permit must always be obtained before the building permit can be issued.
Approval Timeframes: Straightforward applications to City of Boroondara Council typically take 30 to 60 days. Projects involving Heritage Overlay considerations or more complex design requirements can take 60 to 90 days or longer. We build realistic timelines from the very first conversation so your project is never delayed by approvals you were not expecting.
How to Check Your Property: You can verify whether your Kew property sits within a Heritage Overlay by visiting boroondara.vic.gov.au or by contacting City of Boroondara Council's planning team directly at 8 Inglesby Road, Camberwell VIC 3124.
Kew's Victorian and Edwardian homes were designed around a completely different era of family living. Narrow layouts, compartmentalised rooms, and construction methods that predate modern building standards are common across the suburb's most established streets. A full home renovation in Kew is how long-term homeowners transform a period property into a home that works for the way they actually live today, without leaving the postcode to do it. Every home renovation Lilac Constructions delivers in Kew is managed under a single fixed-price contract by licensed builder Zac Porter, BPC DB-U 100-151, with every trade coordinated under one point of accountability from demolition through to final handover.
In many of Kew's period homes the kitchen remains the room that has changed least since the property was built. Separated from living areas and disconnected from the garden, original kitchen layouts no longer reflect how Kew families use their homes. A kitchen renovation in Kew opens up the most used space in the home, improves natural light, and delivers the open-plan functionality that modern living demands. Every kitchen renovation is delivered under a fixed-price contract covering cabinetry, stone benchtops, appliance integration, and all trades, with one licensed builder personally accountable from demolition to final inspection.
Kew's period homes were built in eras when bathrooms were purely functional spaces, and many have never been brought up to the standard the rest of the home now demands. A complete bathroom renovation in Kew requires full waterproofing compliance to AS 3740, quality tiling, custom vanities, and premium fixtures managed with the precision that protects a high-value period property during works. Every bathroom renovation is completed under a fixed-price contract by licensed builder Zac Porter.
Kew's deep Edwardian blocks and generous post-war allotments present some of the strongest extension opportunities in Melbourne's inner east, and for families committed to the suburb's schools and community, extending is almost always the smarter decision over selling. Whether the project is a rear extension opening a Victorian home to the garden, a second storey addition above an Edwardian residence, or a multi-room addition expanding the living areas of a Californian Bungalow, every home extension in Kew requires careful assessment of City of Boroondara's Heritage Overlay controls before work begins. Lilac Constructions manages every home extension in Kew under a fixed-price contract from the first permit application through to final handover.
