Busby 2168 · Liverpool City
Busby Builders: Buying an Old House as a First Home Rebuild
Your first home might be a tired old house you plan to replace.
Busby is among the cheaper suburbs around Liverpool, with 1960s to 80s homes on blocks of 500 to 650 square metres. Plenty of younger buyers see it as a way into a brand-new home on land they own. It can work well. There's just one trap to know about first.
Short answer
Can I buy an old house in Busby and rebuild it as my first home?
Yes, but check the first home buyer concession rules before you exchange, because demolition timing can affect eligibility. A plain single-storey home at mid-spec costs about $1,940 to $2,330 per m² here, roughly $390,000 to $470,000, before demolition and site costs. Class H clay adds to the slab. A code-compliant design can be certified in 15 to 25 working days.
Written and reviewed by Oliver Alameri
Licensed builder, NSW Contractor Licence 487805C · Founder, Buildana
Fact-checked
The trap: first-home concessions and demolition
NSW offers first home buyers transfer duty exemptions and concessions on eligible purchases, plus a grant for some new homes. They're valuable. But each comes with conditions, including when you must move in and how long you must live there.
If you buy an existing house with a first-home concession and then knock it down straight away, you may not be able to meet those occupancy requirements. That could mean paying the duty back.
So before you buy with a plan to rebuild, check the rules with Revenue NSW or your conveyancer. Some buyers live in the old house first, then rebuild. Others choose a different structure. The point is to decide before settlement, not after.
Check the concession rules before you buy, not after you've booked the excavator.
What a sensible first new home looks like
On a Busby block, a single-storey home of around 180 to 220 square metres fits four bedrooms, two bathrooms, an open-plan kitchen and family room and a double garage. Keeping it single level and simple in shape keeps the cost per square metre down.
At Busby's 0.88 adjustment on the Rawlinsons Sydney baseline, a mid-spec home costs roughly $1,940 to $2,330 a square metre. On 200 square metres? Around $390,000 to $470,000 for the build itself, before demolition and site costs.
Spend where it counts: insulation, good windows, a well-planned kitchen. Save on things you can add later, like landscaping extras or a second living area.
- Single storey, simple roof, rectangular footprint
- Four bedrooms, two bathrooms, double garage
- Good insulation and glazing from day one
- Fixed-price contract with site costs listed separately
Looking at a Busby house to rebuild?
Send me the address before you buy. I'll give you a realistic build and site budget, and flag anything that could trip you up, so you can make the call with real numbers.
0476 300 300The costs outside the house
Busby sits on Class H clay. Highly reactive. An engineer designs the new slab off the soil report, usually as a waffle pod or stiffened raft, and it costs more than a slab sitting on sand or rock. Don't cut corners here.
Demolition of a 1960s to 80s house almost always involves some asbestos, so licensed removal goes into the budget. Then there's the driveway, fencing, basic landscaping, and rent while the new home is built.
Put all of it on one page before you commit: purchase price, stamp duty, demolition, build, site costs and rent. That's the real number.
Approvals in Busby
The zoning is R2 under Liverpool's 2008 LEP. Keep the design plain and single storey, tick every box in the state code, and a certifier can usually sign it off within 15 to 25 working days.
Miss a box and it's a Liverpool Council DA instead, typically 10 to 14 weeks. On a first-home budget, drawing to the code from sketch one saves time and money. Simple as that.
Before buying an old house to rebuild
Tick all six off before you exchange contracts.
- 01
First-home concession and grant occupancy rules, checked with Revenue NSW or your conveyancer
- 02
Planning certificate for zoning, flood and other constraints
- 03
An estimate of demolition and asbestos removal
- 04
Soil class, since Class H clay affects the slab cost
- 05
A realistic build budget for the home you actually need
- 06
Where you'll live, and what it costs, during the build
First-home rebuilds in Busby
Can I get a first home buyer concession and knock the house down?
Possibly not. First-home concessions and grants have occupancy requirements, and demolishing straight away can breach them. Check with Revenue NSW or your conveyancer before buying.
What will the new house itself cost in Busby?
For a mid-range finish, around $1,940 to $2,330 per square metre after the local adjustment to Rawlinsons. Call it $390,000 to $470,000 for a 200 square metre single-storey home before site costs.
Why is the slab more expensive in Busby?
Busby sits on Class H reactive clay, which moves with moisture. The slab has to be engineered to cope, usually with deeper beams or a waffle pod system.
Is complying development an option in Busby?
Usually, for a straightforward home that meets the state code. It's often faster than a DA with Liverpool Council.
Sources and references
Costs are from the Rawlinsons handbook with the local cost index applied; rules and timeframes are checked against the sources below.
- Liverpool City Council
- Rawlinsons Australian Construction Handbook, Rawlhouse Publishing
- Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW)
- State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes) 2008
- Asbestos, SafeWork NSW
- Home Building Act 1989 (NSW)
- NSW Planning Portal Spatial Viewer (zoning, FSR and hazard maps)
A brand-new first home. On land you own.
Busby can make it happen, as long as the numbers and the rules line up. Let's check them before you buy.