Step 1: Feasibility
A planning permit issued by Council is generally required to subdivide. An application for a planning permit will need to address the various clauses within the planning scheme applicable to your property and proposal. Assessing compliance with these clauses may be best handled by a land surveyor, an architect or building designer, or a town planner depending on the situation.
If the permit application is to create a vacant land/lots, or land already containing one dwelling per proposed lot, a land surveyor will be the best professional to guide you through the process.
Tell us about your project via our contact form and we’ll contact you ASAP to discuss it.
For subdivisions involving development/construction: you may be best to approach an architect or building designer to determine the development constraints.
Even if you’re not intending to develop yourself, if the lots are under the threshold for the zone, you may be required to submit development plans with the subdivision application to demonstrate that an appropriate development can fit within your proposed subdivision. This doesn’t mean you have to build it yourself, but you will need an architect or building designer to draw up development plans. They may be best to make the planning application.
If we’re not directly involved in the feasibility, a feature survey will most likely be required to determine how the development will sit within the existing conditions.
Step 2: Apply to Council for a Planning Permit
For subdivisions that don’t require development plans (land-only subdivisions), we can generally help you from start to finish.
A permit application will involve submitting plans and a planning report responding to relevant clauses in the Planning Scheme to Council.
The following documents are usually the minimum required as part of your planning application:
Plan of proposed subdivision.
Site context plan – a feature survey augmented with aerial photography to show the subdivision in a wider context.
Planning report responding to the relevant clauses and standards in the planning scheme.
Step 3: Fulfill the requirements of your Planning Permit
Should a planning permit be issued, the next step is to complete the works required to meet the conditions on the permit. This will mostly involve servicing the lots for water supply, sewer, electricity, and access.
This will happen as part of the construction process if you are moving forward with developing new dwellings. However, if you intend to sell the vacant lot(s) created via your subdivision, works will still be required to service each lot prior to Council consent (Statement of Compliance - SoC). SoC is required before you can create new title and then sell the land.
At a minimum, the conditions are likely to include:
● Providing access. A crossover will generally be required to be constructed for access to the lots from the road.
● Connecting services considered essential to the development of the new lot(s) (sewer, water supply, stormwater drainage, and electricity).
Step 4: Lodge the Plan of Subdivision with Land Use Victoria (Titles Office)
To create individual titles for each new lot, you must lodge your SoC and the Plan of Subdivision with Land Use Victoria (Titles Office).
Contact us to chat about your project.
Tell us a bit about your project and we can provide more accurate advice about our services and fees. Attaching plans and diagrams can be a good way to help describe your requirements.