Strickland Road
Ardross
We design and build custom homes in Ardross and the river suburbs of the City of Melville.
Our projects typically start at $1.5M for the build, excluding land. Our most recent finished home here was completed in 2025, and this page sets out what the council's codes, the Riseley centre and the Wireless Hill bushland mean for a new house on an Ardross block.
Our homes in Ardross
Strickland Road is a modern family home on a 509 m2 block in Ardross, completed in 2025. It is the home to see if your block sits in the 500 to 800 m2 range the City's strategy calls the local preference. Two more homes are in progress across the boundary in Mount Pleasant, the next suburb along the river.
Private tours are by invitation; ask us which of these can be visited.
Building in Ardross: what changes
The scheme and the codes. Ardross sits in the City of Melville under Local Planning Scheme No. 6, gazetted in May 2016 and consolidated to Amendment 20 on 11 September 2026. The scheme has no special control areas and modifies the R-Codes only for split-coded lots, where clause 26 applies the lower code unless vehicle access avoids the distributor road. Public mapping puts about 29% of the suburb's area in R20 and about 13.5% in R40. The street labels on the scheme sheets could not be read, so check the code on the City's zoning map. Confirm the R-code with the City of Melville.
What R20 means for the house. On an R20 block the R-Codes set lot size, setbacks and height, read with the City's LPP 3.1 Residential Development; the separate height policy, LPP 1.9, was revoked on 18 August 2026, and a draft policy on regulated trees on private land, LPP 1.24, was advertised on 31 August 2026 and is not yet in force. The 2016 Local Planning Strategy records that residents prefer stand-alone houses on 500 to 800 m2 lots and that "many streets have already been impacted upon by units, villas, townhouse developments", so the City steers grouped dwellings to centres, corridors and streets already changed by infill.
The Riseley centre. The Riseley Activity Centre Structure Plan sits on the Ardross and Applecross boundary. Its Riseley Core, Canning Corridor and The Crescent precincts are District Centre R-AC0 with no maximum residential density; the Transitional Frame and Residential Frame are District Centre R50. Heights run from three to six storeys, and any level above the third must sit at least 8.0 m from a neighbouring property boundary. If your block backs onto the frame, the plan tells you what may be built behind you; the precinct boundaries were not legible in our research. Check whether the block sits inside a Riseley precinct. The LPS 6 review is also weighing more density around Riseley; its sixth feedback round closed on 31 August 2026.
Heritage. Wireless Hill Park on Canning Highway was entered on the State Register on 2 September 1997 with twelve child places, among them the former staff houses and barracks on Hickey Street. The City's Heritage List was adopted on 16 June 2020, and a listed place needs development approval for all works including demolition. Applecross Senior High School on Links Road is on the Municipal Inventory (category A) with no statutory listing, and no Ardross houses were found on the 2019 Local Heritage Survey.
Site and bushfire. Ardross sits on a peninsula running into the Swan River, with Wireless Hill, a 40 ha bushland reserve, on its western border. The DFES Map of Bush Fire Prone Areas buffers bushfire-prone vegetation by 100 m, and public mapping puts about 23% of the suburb's area inside it; point checks in central Ardross and beside Wireless Hill on 31 October 2026 returned no designation. Check the lot's bushfire designation. The Swan Canning Development Control Area applies to lots abutting the river reserve, and none were identified in Ardross. Public soil mapping specific to the suburb was not found. Confirm soil and groundwater for the lot.
Demolition and knockdown rebuild. The suburb takes its name from Ardross Street in the 1896 subdivision of Applecross, and the City records its build-out from the 1950s, so most new homes here replace a post-war house. The ABS counted 52 new house approvals in the Applecross - Ardross statistical area in the 12 months to August 2026, up from 40 the year before, with a combined value of $73.9 million. The City of Melville issues the demolition permit (BA5) usually within 10 working days, with a $1,900 verge bond and a $100 inspection fee; development approval is needed only for a Heritage Listed place.
Rules change. Confirm the current codes for your lot with the City of Melville or with us before you buy or design.
Ardross at a glance
| Measure | Figure | As at | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| New houses approved, 12 months | 52in the Applecross - Ardross statistical area (40 the year before) | September 2025 to August 2026 | ABS Building Approvals |
| Residential density codes | About 29%of the suburb area R20, 13.5% R40, 4% R-AC0 | Sampled 31 October 2026 | DPLH via Landgate SLIP |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | About 23%of the suburb area; check the lot | Sampled 31 October 2026 | DFES via Landgate SLIP |
| Separate houses | 74.1%of private dwellings | 2021 Census | ABS |
| Population | 4,578 | 2021 Census | ABS |
Figures are for the suburb or statistical area named. Area shares are grid estimates from public mapping and are not lot designations.
For current median sale prices, see REIWA's Ardross suburb profile.
What a $1.5M+ build looks like in Ardross
Our projects typically start at $1.5M for the build, excluding land. Our cost guide puts a Trendsetter home at $4,000 to $6,000+ per square metre, with builds from $1.5M to $4M and most between $1.5M and $3M. In Ardross the block is usually one of the 500 to 800 m2 lots the City's strategy describes, coded R20, on a peninsula with slopes toward the river. At the smaller end a two storey plan keeps the garden; at the larger end a single level becomes possible. Strickland Road, on 509 m2, is the one to look at. A block beside Wireless Hill may carry a bushfire designation, so we check it before we draw.
How we work
Trendsetter Homes has designed and built custom homes across Perth since 1997. Design, construction and interiors are handled by one team, so the people who draw your home are the people who build it, and the interior designer is in the room from the first brief. Before you commit, we show you real homes: private tours of finished and in-progress client homes, by invitation, with no obligation. Many clients talk to us before they buy a block, and that is a good time to start.
The people you will work with
Design, construction and interiors are one team. These are the people you meet first.
Nearby suburbs we build in
Ardross shares the Melville scheme with Applecross and Mount Pleasant, but the Riseley plan and the river reserve fall differently on each.
Nearby: Mount Pleasant.
Elsewhere in the river suburbs: Bull Creek, Manning, Salter Point, South Perth.
All areas: see every suburb we have written up.
Questions about building in Ardross
Do I need approval to demolish a house in Ardross?
You need a demolition permit from the City of Melville (form BA5), usually determined within 10 working days, with a $1,900 verge bond and a $100 inspection fee. Development approval is needed only if the place is on the City's Heritage List, adopted on 16 June 2020.
What code is my block, and how high can I build?
Most single-house streets are R20 under Local Planning Scheme No. 6, and the scheme modifies the R-Codes only for split-coded lots, so the R-Codes set lot size, setbacks and height; the City's height policy, LPP 1.9, was revoked on 18 August 2026. Inside the Riseley frame the code is District Centre R50 and heights run from three to six storeys by precinct.
Is my block bushfire-prone?
Possibly, if it adjoins Wireless Hill Park. The DFES map buffers bushfire-prone vegetation by 100 m, and about 23% of the suburb's area falls inside it. Point checks in central Ardross and beside the park on 31 October 2026 returned no designation, so check the current DFES map for the address.
Do the river rules apply in Ardross?
Not on any lot we identified. The Swan Canning Development Control Area and the DBCA Policy 48 setbacks apply to lots abutting the river reserve, and Ardross has no river frontage of its own in the scheme map text. Across the boundary in Applecross or Mount Pleasant, the answer changes.
Talk to us
Book a design meeting at our Osborne Park office, or request a private tour of a finished or in-progress home. Office (08) 9446 2822. For tours, call Marek on 0412 688 079. Or use the enquiry form below.
Request a design chat