Reservoir Vic

Northern Melbourne · Victoria

What's Reservoir made of?

Mostly infill townhouses and rebuilds on 550-700m² blocks, sitting on basalt plains clay, with high pressure to knock down and rebuild. City of Darebin.

Who built Reservoir
Infill townhouses and rebuilds 35%1960s cream brick veneer 30%Post-war Trust and Commission homes 25%Interwar bungalows 10%

The eras, street by street

Infill townhouses and rebuilds

35%
2000s-2020s

Dual occupancies and townhouse rows replacing 1950s-60s veneers under ResCode, plus single-block knockdown rebuilds.

1960s cream brick veneer

30%
1960s

Triple-fronted cream or clinker brick veneer, tiled roof, timber floors on stumps, single carport, a lemon tree out the back.

Post-war Trust and Commission homes

25%
1945-1965

Housing Commission concrete-panel and brick veneer homes, timber floors on stumps, small windows, tile or iron roofs.

Interwar bungalows

10%
1920s-1940s

Californian bungalows and Spanish Mission in brick or weatherboard, terracotta tiles, wide porches, timber floors on stumps.

Typical block
550-700m²
Typical frontage
15m
Rebuild pressure
High

Under the floor

Soil

Basalt plains clay

Heavy grey and black clay over basalt across Melbourne's west and north. Highly reactive (Class H to E in places), with rock sometimes close to the surface. Expect waffle-pod or stiffened-raft slabs, and expect the concreter to hit rock.

In the walls

  • Party walls and shared driveways on community or strata titles
  • Small setbacks mean little garden and less solar access
  • Quality varies enormously between developer-builders
  • Neighbourhood character disputes
  • Asbestos in eaves, bathroom, laundry and fence
  • Galvanised pipes and low water pressure
  • Empty wall cavities (no insulation)
  • Original switchboard with ceramic fuses
What each of these costs to fix

How the streets are changing

Dual occupancies and townhouse pairs across the whole suburb. The 1950s-60s veneers are the stock being replaced.

The thing locals know

Melbourne's biggest suburb by area, with three distinct markets: the west near the train, the east near the creek, and the Commission pocket in the middle.

Time machine

What's changed in Reservoir since Nan bought

House prices in years of wages, decade by decade, what was standing when, and what her block does now.

Open the timeline

Questions about Reservoir

Do houses in Reservoir have asbestos?+

Likely in the older stock. About 65% of Reservoir was built between the 1920s and 1980s, the peak asbestos period. Eaves, wet-area sheeting, fences and sheds are the usual places. Test before you drill, sand or demolish.

What soil is under Reservoir?+

Basalt plains clay. Heavy grey and black clay over basalt across Melbourne's west and north. Highly reactive (Class H to E in places), with rock sometimes close to the surface. Expect waffle-pod or stiffened-raft slabs, and expect the concreter to hit rock.

Can I subdivide a block in Reservoir?+

High subdivision pressure: Two or three homes replacing one on many streets. Original houses are becoming the minority and land value drives everything. Typical blocks are 550-700m². Check the zone, ResCode and any Neighbourhood Character or Heritage overlay for the exact street.

Street-level generalisations from council heritage studies, ABS dwelling-age data, soil classification maps and BuildPilot partner site reports. Every street has exceptions. A soil test, a building inspection and the council's overlay map beat any suburb profile, including this one.

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