As Saeed Noori appeared in court on 18 charges of attempted murder, fragments have started to emerge of his life before he allegedly drove into pedestrians in central Melbourne on Thursday.

Mr Noori lived in a public housing unit in a quiet street in Heidelberg West with a woman and a toddler, a neighbour said. The neighbour said Mr Noori referred to the toddler as his son.

The two-bedroom property, which is less than a year old, was first occupied by an elderly man who called himself Noori, according to the neighbour.

The neighbour described Saeed Noori as his son. The older man moved out mid-year, and Mr Noori and his family moved in, he said.