McCourt Street
West Leederville
We design and build custom homes in West Leederville and across Perth's western suburbs.
Our projects typically start at $1.5M for the build, excluding land. Blocks here are smaller and more mixed than in most of the western suburbs, and many have a rear lane, so this page sets out what the Town of Cambridge's rules mean for the house you can fit, and shows the home we have built here.
Our homes in West Leederville
McCourt Street is a contemporary, resort-style home we completed in September 2019 on a 435 m2 lot. The block is on the compact side, and the home shows what a tight West Leederville site can carry when the plan is worked out from the lot rather than adapted from a standard design.
Two of our other homes are close by: The Grove in Wembley, completed in February 2023 on a 493 m2 lot, and Evandale Street in Floreat, under way with completion expected in 2027. Private tours are by invitation. Ask us which can be visited.
Building in West Leederville: what changes
The scheme and the codes. West Leederville sits in the Town of Cambridge under Local Planning Scheme No. 1, gazetted on 31 March 1998. The Town's planning strategy codes the suburb R20, R30 and R40, and public mapping puts about 30% of the suburb's area in R30 and 13% in R40. The strategy counts 373 lots here with latent subdivision potential, the largest number in any Cambridge suburb. The code on your lot, not the suburb pattern, sets the site area and setbacks you design to.
Height. The Town's building height policy (LPP 3.3, amended 25 July 2025) gives a single house a maximum wall height of 7 m, and a total height of 8 m under a gable, skillion or concealed roof or 10 m under a hipped or pitched roof. Two storeys fit; a third level usually does not. Inside the activity centre only, the Precinct Structure Plan (WAPC SPN 2148, 2026 version) counts height in storeys instead: two storeys at 9.0 m, 3.0 m for each storey above, and a two storey minimum at street interfaces.
Laneways and the street frontage. The precinct policy for West Leederville (LPP 2.5, Precinct P5) asks new infill to respect the scale and significant forms of the existing houses, with an emphasis on rear laneway access and no high fences or walls at the street alignment. The Precinct Structure Plan adds laneway widening, laneway setbacks and the ceding of laneway land. If your block has a lane, the garage usually goes on it. Where there is no lane, the built form policy (LPP 3.1, amended 25 July 2025) limits the garage to 50% of the frontage. The Hill of Tara area (Kavanagh Street, Lake Monger Drive and the Hill of Tara Estate) is treated as a different, more modern streetscape where a wider variety of housing design is permitted.
Trees. Since 11 December 2024 the Town's tree retention policy (LPP 3.25) has required development approval before any tree-damaging activity to a regulated tree on residential land: 8 m or taller, a canopy of 6 m or more, or a trunk circumference of 1 m or more. We map them before we draw.
Heritage. West Leederville holds the Town's only conservation area: Holyrood Street between Cambridge Street and Woolwich Street, declared in 2002, where design guidelines (LPP 2.5.1) apply on top of the R-Codes. The Town names two State Register places here, the Leederville Town Hall and West Leederville Primary School, which need Heritage Council approval for development, and Heritage List places need planning approval for demolition and most works. On a Holyrood Street block, check which lots the conservation area covers before you buy. Confirm the Holyrood Street Conservation Area lot list and the text of LPP 2.5.1 with the Town of Cambridge.
Soils and water. State geology mapping shows Tamala Limestone under the suburb. Toward Lake Monger the mapped units change to peaty swamp deposits and acid sulfate soil risk is high to moderate; the Town's strategy seeks to limit disturbance and dewatering there, and Lake Monger Reserve is a Conservation Category Wetland. A basement or deep pool near the lake starts as a soils conversation. No bushfire-prone polygon touches West Leederville on the DFES map.
Demolition and knockdown rebuild. West Leederville was the first part of the Town to be developed, first with small timber and iron cottages and now an eclectic mix of housing on varied lots. Most new houses replace an older one: the ABS recorded 55 new house approvals in the Wembley - West Leederville - Glendalough statistical area in the 12 months to August 2026, up from 49 the year before. The Town requires a demolition permit with an asbestos and septic tank declaration, and a Heritage List or Holyrood Street place needs planning approval first.
Rules in motion. Council supported the draft Local Planning Scheme No. 2 with modifications on 28 July 2026; under it the activity centre becomes Centre zone R-AC0 and the Cambridge Street corridor codes are adjusted, with the Minister's decision expected late 2026 or early 2027. Rules change. Confirm the current codes for your lot with the Town of Cambridge or with us before you buy or design.
West Leederville at a glance
| Measure | Figure | As at | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| New houses approved, 12 months | 55in the Wembley - West Leederville - Glendalough statistical area (49 the year before) | September 2025 to August 2026 | ABS Building Approvals |
| Residential density codes | About 30%of the suburb area R30, 13% R40, 4% R-AC0 | Sampled 31 October 2026 | DPLH via Landgate SLIP |
| Separate houses | 45.3%of private dwellings | 2021 Census | ABS |
| Population | 4,340 | 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 West Leederville suburb profile.
What a $1.5M+ build looks like in West Leederville
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 West Leederville the lots run smaller and more varied than elsewhere in the western suburbs, so the floor area tends to go up rather than out: two storeys inside the 7 m wall and 8 m or 10 m roof limits, with the garage off the laneway where there is one. Near Lake Monger, the mapped acid sulfate soils can add site work and limit how deep you go.
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
West Leederville's neighbours sit under two councils, Cambridge and Subiaco, with different codes on each side of the line.
Elsewhere in the western suburbs: City Beach, Nedlands, Woodlands.
All areas: see every suburb we have written up.
Questions about building in West Leederville
What does the Town of Cambridge require before I demolish?
A demolition permit, with the Town's checklist and an asbestos and septic tank declaration. Class 10 structures under 40 m2 are exempt, and the Town may take a verge or street tree protection bond. If the house is on the Heritage List or in the Holyrood Street Conservation Area, planning approval comes first, and a State Register place needs Heritage Council approval as well.
Can I build three storeys in West Leederville?
On a residential lot, usually not. The Town's building height policy (LPP 3.3) caps wall height at 7 m and total height at 8 m for a gable, skillion or concealed roof or 10 m for a hipped or pitched roof. Height in storeys applies only inside the West Leederville Activity Centre, where the Precinct Structure Plan sets two storeys at 9.0 m.
My block has a rear lane. How does that change the design?
The precinct policy (LPP 2.5) puts an emphasis on rear laneway access so that street frontages keep their character, and the Precinct Structure Plan sets laneway widening, setback and ceding requirements. In practice the garage goes on the lane, the front of the block is free for the house and garden, and the laneway setback and any land to be ceded are measured before the plan is drawn.
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