Your questions answered · Knockdown rebuild

Can we knock down our house?
Brisbane's rules in plain words.

If your house was built before the war, Brisbane has rules about what can happen to it. Here they are in plain words, and how to check your own house in about five minutes.

Nathan Brain, carpenter and builder at Sabre 8 September 2026 · updated 17 September 2026 5 min read

A couple on the footpath looking at a pre-war Queenslander — Illustration in the style of Sabre's story frames, not a photograph of the real street.

The short answer

If your house was built after 1946, Brisbane's character rules almost certainly don't stop you knocking it down. Other approvals still apply, but the house itself isn't protected.

If it was built in 1946 or earlier and your street is in Brisbane City Council's Traditional building character overlay, demolition needs a development application, and council decides. It isn't automatically no. It isn't automatically yes either.

If it was built before 1911, council's position is that the house is to be kept.

The overlay is mapped street by street, so you check your own block, not your suburb. It takes about five minutes on council's mapping. Wynnum, Manly and the older parts of the Bayside have plenty of pre-1947 houses, so it's the first thing we look at on every job.

Part of a bigger picture: the whole knockdown rebuild path, step by step.

What is the character overlay?

It's a map layer in Brisbane City Plan 2014 that marks the older streets council wants to keep looking the way they do.

The three dates that decide it: before 1911, 1946 or earlier, after 1946 — The three dates Brisbane's character rules turn on.

The overlay applies to “some areas and streets of older suburbs that have a distinct identity based on building character, materials, layouts and setbacks.” Its purpose is “to maintain the traditional, pre-1947 streetscape.”
Brisbane City Council, Heritage and character properties, Brisbane City Plan 2014. Council's own words — we haven't paraphrased them.

It's mapped street by street, so one side of a road can be in it and the other not.

Wynnum, Manly and the older parts of the Bayside have plenty of pre-1947 houses, which is why it's the first thing we check.

When can a pre-1947 house still come down?

Council's demolition code sets out the limited situations where it will say yes. Broadly, they are:

A house that has been altered so much it no longer looks pre-1947.
A house an engineer certifies is structurally unsound and can't reasonably be made sound.
Cases where taking it down won't cost the street its character.

Each of those has to be shown, not stated. We don't decide it, and neither does anyone else selling you a house.

How do we check our own block?

Open council's City Plan mapping and type in your address.
In the Maps Tools panel, switch on the Overlays layer “Traditional building character”.
Generate the property report. It lists every overlay on your lot.

Or ring council on 07 3403 8888. Or answer two questions on the contact page and we'll do it with you.

Step by step, with the archive check that tells you the year your house was built: How to check if your house is in the character overlay.

Do we have to move out?

For a full knockdown rebuild, yes. There's no house to live in while the new one goes up.

Most Bayside families rent nearby so the kids stay in the same school, and they plan the build around the school year. It's the biggest cost people forget, so it's one of the first things Nathan will talk through with you on the walk-through, before anyone signs anything.

Raises, extensions and renovations are different. Some of those can be worked around a family staying put, and Nathan will tell you honestly which yours is.

“Any house construction is fraught with dangers, stress and hidden costs. None of this happened.”
Roselia Finlay · Google review of Sabre Constructions · January 2022. The way you get there is by having the hard conversations — the overlay, the move-out, the block — before anyone signs.

Common questions

How do I find out when my house was built?

The property report from council's mapping is the quickest first look. For the actual year, Brisbane City Archives hold building records back to 1904. The step-by-step is in the overlay check.

Does the overlay mean we can never rebuild?

No. It means council decides on an application, and there are limited situations where a pre-1947 house can come down. It isn't automatically no, and it isn't automatically yes.

What if the house was built before 1911?

Council's position is that the house is kept. For a full knockdown, that's usually the end of the conversation — but a raise, an extension or a renovation may still be on the table.

Do the rules apply to a renovation?

The overlay shapes what work on a pre-1947 house looks like from the street, so some changes need approval you'd assume wouldn't. Renovating inside the overlay happens all the time.

Sources: Brisbane City Council, Heritage and character properties, and Brisbane City Plan 2014; Sabre Constructions' public Google listing, read 5 September 2026. This page is a plain-English guide, not planning advice. The mapping changes from time to time. Check the current map before you decide anything.

Where most families start

A walk through your house with Nathan.

Room by room, with the builder who'd build the next one. No obligation, and no need to know what you want yet. He'll ring to set a time that suits the family.

Book your walk-through with Nathan Call 0422 831 306

Already thinking about a rebuild? The free block check is on the same page.

Can we knock down our house?Brisbane's rules in plain words.