Questions: How does it work with townhouse (on its own title) in VIC that share walls? Can I renovate the townhouse, i.e. extend out or up, or even knock the townhouse down and use the land to build another townhouse?
I observe that all townhouses on that street have the same facade, and seems like no one has done any alternation to them.
You're right on all points. You can do it, but there may be heritage overlay or neighbour objections. You'll also need to take out insurance for any damage to your neighbour during the demo.
This is not quite the same as your scenario, but I remember this episode of grant designs australia, which seems to indicate that something similar is possible, if you spend enough money.
http://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/buying/revolution…
The rest of the street was townhouses from the same era, and they had to keep the shape in character with the others, but were eventually given permission for the more modern facade.
There were a huge number of engineering things to keep the shared wall with the neighbour standing whilst they built against it. as with every episode of this show, I vaguely remember that something went wrong and the foundation moved or something, but everything was eventually solved by spending more money.
Anything is possible - just look at this crazy development: https://www.domain.com.au/news/fivestorey-tower-springs-up-n…
By default a subdivided piece of land in Victoria is subject to the rules of the default body corporate (now called an "owners corporation") unless the corporation is activated and has its own set of rules created.
Legally the owner would need to get written permission from the body corporate (ie. other owners) to do any work affecting the corporation otherwise the owner could be taken to court to find a solution.
Subdivided properties like townhouses have all had council do a planning permit at some stage in the past and are subject to a higher degree of scrutiny than single dwellings so you would most likely need council permission to do any work that extends or rebuilds the property.
The rules have also become stricter as the years have gone on so you would likely not be able to extend in any way - in fact you would likely reduce the hard surface area due to increased private open space requirements across Victoria, unless you are lucky enough to have had your property rezoned to higher density in which case you could probably go up a level.
(In summary unless under very rare circumstances it's not worth it given that townhouses have hardly increased in price for the last few years you are better of selling and buying a new one)
While not VIC - in ACT they have had to put in new planning rules after someone did exactly that about 5 years ago
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/rewriting-on-the-wa…
I would assume that with the right permit you could knock it down IF the shared walls could remain and would be unimpacted by you knocking the townhouse down. I think you would find this pretty damn expensive to do and frankly - a bit of a dick move for all the other townhouses that may be put at risk.
You would be able to extend up again with the right approval and provided it doesn’t impact your neighbors.