Owning a heritage place

Buying, selling and leasing

Owning a place listed on the Queensland Heritage Register does not diminish your property rights. There is no legal restriction on the sale or lease of a heritage place. Subdivision of a heritage property requires development approval, however, once approved there is no restriction on how that property is sold or to whom.

A property’s title should record that it is entered in the Queensland Heritage Register. A Certificate of Affect verifies if a property is or is not entered in the Queensland Heritage Register. Request a Certificate of Affect online.

Insuring a heritage place

If you own a heritage place you must tell your insurer that your property is heritage listed. The following fact sheets, endorsed by the Insurance Council of Australia, provide answers to the most common queries regarding insuring a heritage place: Insuring a Queensland heritage-listed place and Six things insurers need to know.

Making changes, conservation, maintenance and minor repairs

Owning a place that is listed on the Queensland Heritage Register does not stop you from making changes, additions or constructing new buildings as long as the work is conducted legally.

Most types of proposed changes, including some maintenance and repair work on heritage places are regarded as development. Read more about development requirements.

Emergency work and disaster recovery

Emergency work, including work that is part of disaster response and recovery is considered development and may require approval. Read about the requirements for emergency work on a state registered heritage place.

Heritage agreements

A heritage agreement is a joint agreement between you as the owner, and us, that sets out provisions for future work, conservation action or use of a heritage place.

It specifies an agreed range of activities such as development work, use, public access, and maintenance and conservation work standards that you can undertake without having to seek ongoing approval from us for this work (unless required in the agreement).

Heritage agreements are usually listed on the title of the property and are binding on its owner. This ensures that if the place is sold, the agreement remains in place. Agreements can be renegotiated if your plans change.

Contact 13 QGOV (13 74 68) if you would like to find out about a heritage agreement for your state registered heritage place.

Conservation Management Plans

A Conservation Management Plan (CMP) guides the conservation and management of a heritage place.

Prepared by a heritage professional, a CMP identifies the heritage values of a place, sets out policies to guide conservation and future change and provides strategies to put policies into action.

It guides decision making to ensure the heritage values of a place are conserved and is an essential management tool for heritage places with complex needs or which are undergoing adaptation and change.

The Guideline: Conservation management plans (PDF, 576KB) explains how to create and use a CMP.

Public access

You are not required to allow public access to your heritage property and the general public does not have the right to enter your heritage property without your express permission. Your rights as an owner do not change if your property is added to the Queensland Heritage Register.

Keeping records

Owners and managers are encouraged to keep a log book to record maintenance and other work carried out at a heritage place. As a continuous record of a place over time, a log book is a useful reference for future owners/managers. Similarly, other records that document the place, for example, historical documents, photographs, survey data, should also be kept.