Some houses are worth saving and some are not, and age alone rarely settles it. It turns on how the structure is built, what your block allows, and how far the house you want sits from the house you have. Roebuck Concepts is a QBCC-licensed building company (licence 15280811) at Coolum Beach, building across the Sunshine Coast and Noosa Shire.
What is a knockdown rebuild?
A knockdown rebuild means demolishing the existing house and building a new one on the same block. You keep the land, the address and the position, and replace the building completely, so the new design is not held hostage by the old floor plan, ceiling heights or structural grid. On this coast the land is often worth more than the building, which is why starting again is common.
When does a knockdown rebuild beat a renovation?
A rebuild is usually better value when one or more of these is true.
- The structure is fighting you. Low ceilings, load-bearing walls in the wrong places, split levels, or a roof that will not take the span you want.
- The bones are compromised. Termite damage through the frame, footings failing on reactive or filled ground, corroded reinforcement in older coastal slabs and balconies.
- The house sits wrong on the block. If it blocks the northern light, the view or the only sensible pool location, internal work will not fix it.
- You would replace nearly everything anyway. Once roof, windows, wiring, plumbing, cladding, kitchen and bathrooms are all on the list, you are paying renovation rates around an old frame.
- Earlier work was never approved. Enclosed under-crofts and unapproved additions must be resolved before a certifier signs off on anything new.
When is renovating the better call?
Keep the house when the structure is sound and the building does something a new one could not. Older Sunshine Coast and Noosa houses often sit closer to a boundary, or higher on a slope, than a new house would be permitted to today. Demolish it and that position can be gone for good.
Elevated pole homes are the clearest case: the frame extends readily, and the expensive part, getting a structure onto a steep site, is already paid for. Our Grandview Drive Extension at Coolum Beach was exactly that, a pole home extended in every direction rather than replaced. It won three Master Builders Queensland 2025 Sunshine Coast Housing & Construction Awards on 15 August 2025: Home Renovation/Remodelling Project over $1 million, Best Residential Swimming Pool, and Best Use of Innovation. See our renovation work or our guide to renovating versus knocking down.
What approvals do you need to demolish a house in Queensland?
Demolition is building work, and two things must be cleared before anything comes down.
A building approval. Sunshine Coast Council advises that a private building certifier can tell you whether you need a development building work permit. Noosa Council states that most types of building work require a development approval, and that you can obtain that approval from a private building certifier rather than from council.
A planning check. Noosa Council is explicit that private building certifiers are not authorised to approve any building work that is contrary to the local planning scheme or the Queensland Development Code. If your lot carries an overlay, whether character, heritage, coastal hazard, flood, environmental or vegetation, the demolition or the new house may need a development approval from council first. Overlays are mapped in the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 and the Noosa Plan 2020. Check them before you pay for a design.
What happens with asbestos in an older home?
Asbestos-containing materials were used routinely in Australian housing for decades before they were banned nationally, so on any older house the safe assumption is that they are there until testing says otherwise. It turns up in fibre cement sheeting, eaves, wet-area linings, fences and roof sheeting. Under Queensland’s work health and safety laws, administered by Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, an unlicensed person may remove no more than 10 square metres of non-friable asbestos; beyond that a licensed removalist is required, and friable asbestos needs a Class A licensed removalist whatever the quantity. A house demolition is well past that threshold. So the contractor commissions a hazardous materials survey, the asbestos comes out under licence with clearance documentation, and only then does the machine start. The quantity found is one of the larger swings in a demolition price.
How do services get disconnected before demolition?
Nothing comes down until the site is dead. Electricity is permanently abolished by the distributor, Energex in South East Queensland, not just switched off at the meter. Water and sewerage go through Unitywater, whose approval is required where you plan to build or excavate close to its water and sewerage assets, or need to shift or modify its infrastructure such as maintenance holes and connection points. Gas, telecommunications and solar are separate again. Each has a lead time, so these get lodged while approvals are still running.
What do you keep when you knock down and rebuild?
- The land and the address. Your lot, title and street number do not change.
- The pool, often. A sound pool can be kept, protected through the works and re-fenced afterwards, but it constrains where the new house sits and how machinery reaches the site.
- Established trees, within limits. Vegetation clearing is regulated under both planning schemes and significant trees can be protected by overlay.
- Some site infrastructure such as retaining walls, driveway crossovers and sewer connection points, where sound and in the right place.
What drives the cost of a knockdown rebuild on the Sunshine Coast?
We do not publish a rate per square metre, because here the site sets the price as much as the house does. Slope, rock and fill drive footings and excavation. Asbestos quantity and machine access drive the demolition. Coastal wind and corrosion exposure drive bracing, tie-down, glazing and fixings. Overlays drive the rest: Sunshine Coast Council publishes development fact sheets on flood information relevant to building work and on maximum dwelling heights in flood affected areas, and a minimum floor level can change the form of the house entirely.
One cost belongs in every contract. The QBCC states that the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme is compulsory for all residential construction work valued at more than $3,300, including the cost of materials, labour and GST, and that home warranty insurance pays up to a maximum of $200,000 on claims. Your contractor pays the premium.
Sunshine Coast Council or Noosa Shire Council?
Which council you are in decides which rules apply. Noosa-area suburbs sit with Noosa Shire Council under the Noosa Plan 2020, originally adopted in July 2020 and amended since, most recently by Amendment No. 3 which commenced on 20 March 2026. Everywhere else sits with Sunshine Coast Council under the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, which commenced on 21 May 2014. The two schemes zone land and map overlays differently, so advice from a Noosa job does not carry across to a Buderim one.
A decision checklist before you commit
- Get a structural opinion, not a visual one: frame, footings, subfloor, balconies.
- Check the overlays that apply to your lot under the relevant planning scheme.
- Commission a hazardous materials survey on any older house before demolition is priced.
- Price both paths against the same brief and finishes, or the comparison means nothing.
- Confirm any licence through the QBCC licensee register before signing.
Knockdown rebuild FAQs
Is a knockdown rebuild cheaper than a major renovation?
Not automatically. A rebuild adds demolition and a full new build but avoids the cost of working around an old structure. Where the renovation would touch most of the house anyway, the rebuild often wins per square metre of usable result.
Can you keep the pool when you knock down and rebuild?
Usually yes, if the shell and plant are sound. It must be protected through demolition and construction, temporary fencing kept compliant, and machine access planned around it. Raise it at design stage, not on site.
Does your address change after a knockdown rebuild?
No. You keep the same lot, title and street number. Only subdividing or reconfiguring the lot changes that, and that is a separate application to council.
Can a private building certifier approve the demolition on its own?
Only where the planning scheme allows it. Noosa Council states that private building certifiers are not authorised to approve any building work that is contrary to the local planning scheme or the Queensland Development Code, so an overlay can send you to council for a development approval first.
Do you need home warranty insurance on a knockdown rebuild?
Yes, for the building work. The QBCC states that the Queensland Home Warranty Scheme is compulsory for all residential construction work valued at more than $3,300, including the cost of materials, labour and GST. Your contractor pays the premium and it forms part of the contract price.
How do you check a Sunshine Coast builder’s licence?
Search the QBCC licensee register by name or licence number and confirm the class covers the work. Roebuck Concepts holds company licence 15280811 and Tom Roebuck holds individual licence 15015060.
Talk it through before you spend money on drawings
This call is cheapest to get right before a designer starts. We will walk the house with you, say honestly what is worth keeping, and set out what your block allows. See our new home builds, or book a consult with Tom on 0477 333 386.