Georges River Council
Private building certifier in Mortdale
In Kemps Estate, one Mortdale house can sit across several narrow legal lots still shown on title. CertifiBuild certifies homes, extensions, garages and pools here, starting with that title check.
NSW 2223
Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures
Local rules
Kemps Estate lots and bigger blocks up in Mortdale Heights
A suburb of three settings
Within Mortdale you will find a town centre, Hurstville Golf Course and a pocket of industrial land. Post-war flats gather near the shops, and flats form a big part of the housing. Up in Mortdale Heights, blocks are bigger and regular, with deep planted verges. Each setting needs its own approach, so no single standard lot fits the whole suburb.
The Kemps Estate puzzle
Kemps Estate was subdivided in the nineteenth century into very narrow lots. Over time, owners built houses across two or more of them. The old deposited plans often stayed in place. So a house that looks like it sits on one wide block may sit on several legal lots. The Georges River DCP has special estate rules, among them a table of building envelopes (the height and setback limits a building must fit within) for different dwelling types.
Front yards and parking
Driveways and paving tend to dominate estate front yards. Fitting a car space and some garden beside an addition is a real design limit here.
Typical work
Common projects and how they get approved
What owners build here
The work changes with where you are in Mortdale. A narrow estate address needs a very different plan from a wide block near the golf course. Common jobs include:
- Compact rebuilds and roof space additions suited to the narrow estate lots.
- Rear extensions designed so a car space and a usable courtyard still fit.
- Garages, pools and more conventional additions on the bigger Heights blocks.
- Internal work and repairs on semis and terraces with shared walls, where fire separation between homes matters.
- Granny flats, once the title confirms which lots make up the site and how those lots connect.
How approval usually works
Start with the title. Order the deposited plan and a survey before you assume the fence line marks one legal lot. If the job involves a second dwelling, consolidation or shared walls, sort out the title first. In Kemps Estate, match your design to the right row of the envelope table rather than borrowing setbacks from another option. Garages are treated differently from the house in that table. A CDC (fast-track approval under state rules) may work where the code is met in full. Otherwise a DA (council approval) comes first and a construction certificate follows. Apartment and unit work is outside Class 1 and 10. CertifiBuild reads the estate rules and title with you before design starts and keeps the paperwork moving once your build is under way.
Our services
From approval to sign-off.
One certifier for your whole Mortdale job, from the first plan check to the occupation certificate.
Local questions
Questions we hear about this suburb.
No two lots in Mortdale are the same. Give us your address and we will check every map that affects it.
See the council pageIs a knockdown rebuild possible on my narrow Mortdale lot?
Usually, yes, but start with the title rather than the frontage. In Kemps Estate, land was subdivided in the nineteenth century into very narrow lots, and many houses were later built across two or more of them while the old deposited plans stayed in place. So confirm which legal lots form your site and whether it sits in the estate. The Georges River Development Control Plan sets special estate rules, with a table of height and setback limits for each kind of dwelling. Fitting a car space and some garden beside the new home is a real limit here too.
Does the estate envelope table mean automatic approval?
No. The Kemps Estate table sets the height and setback limits a building must fit within for each dwelling type, but it gives no consent and does not make a complying development certificate (CDC) available on its own. Match your legal site and house type to the right row, and avoid borrowing a setback from another option. Garages are treated differently from the house in that table. Then check what the zone permits and the wider planning rules. A CDC may work if the code is met in full; otherwise a development application (DA) comes first.
Do Kemps Estate rules apply near the golf course?
Not by default. Mortdale Heights, up near Hurstville Golf Course, has bigger, regular blocks with deep planted verges, and council treats it separately from the narrow Kemps Estate lots. First confirm whether the estate rules reach your address. If they do not, design to your zone, lot size and the normal residential controls. Larger blocks here often suit garages, pools and conventional additions. Even so, get a survey done and read the title, so your plans begin from the true boundaries, not guesses based on other streets.
Building in this suburb?
Send us the address first.
We check the local maps for your lot, confirm the approval path and quote in writing.