FAQs

When a property is heritage-listed, it is placed on the heritage list due to its unique properties and appearance. The whole of the place is considered to have significance. The Heritage Listing provides statutory protection of the place and may require that alterations, demolition and additions consider the impact to the heritage fabric and not diminishing the significance.

A property on the Local Heritage Survey provides Council, owners and the public with a record of the significant features or history of a building. It is an information source. The Survey does not include any statutory protection, but the valuable information may inform future considerations for placing a building on the Heritage List.

No. A Heritage Listing does not prohibit any future change, rather it provides the framework within which changes can occur. Designation does not imply that heritage sites or buildings cannot be altered, added to, subdivided, modernised, or in certain situations demolished. Rather, the main aim of heritage listing is to ensure due and expert consideration is given by the applicant and Council to the heritage significance of an item at the development application stage, and to ensure that any new work is undertaken in a manner sympathetic to the significance of the building.

Numerous studies and experience from other western suburbs local governments and cities across Australia have shown that Heritage Listing is either neutral or positive for home values. This is because the retention and upkeep of heritage buildings is an attractor for people who love historic architectural styles and local history. Many people and are willing to pay a premium to live in or nearby heritage buildings.

Below are links to some of the many studies:

• Insuring, buying and selling heritage places (www.wa.gov.au)
• Impact of heritage listing on residential property values
• How will HCD designation affect the resale value of my house? - Cabbagetown Heritage Conservation District Committee (cabbagetownhcd.ca)
• Heritage Designation and Property Values: Is there an effect? [Research Study]
• How cultural values are reflected on the housing market – direct effects and the cultural spillover
• The impacts of historic districts on residential property land values in Australia
• Historic Preservation and Residential Property Values: Evidence from Quantile Regression
• An assessment of the effects of conservation areas on value
• Does the Housing Market Value Heritage? Some Empirical Evidence

The City consulted on proposed Heritage Areas in 2024. Heritage Areas seek to preserve heritage streetscapes by implementing broad planning rules over an area with heritage character to preserve a particular streetscape and ensure that new builds are sympathetic. The consultation found the community did not wish to see Heritage Areas implemented and thus Officers recommended that it not proceed. Council agreed and discontinued the project.

The Heritage Survey and List differ from Heritage Areas because it is a statutory requirement and focuses on individual places rather than a whole streetscape or large area.

The Heritage Survey records significance of places and the Heritage List allows for statutory protection and development controls. Places on the Survey are there for recording purposes only. Places on the Heritage List are there for because of a high degree of significance compared to general heritage features seen in Heritage Areas. Places on the Heritage List have statutory protection afforded to them. There is also a greater deal of consultation with individual owners over the heritage listing of individual places which does not include blanket rules or policies. To date the Heritage List includes important places such as the Rose Garden, Lemnos Hospital, Swanbourne Hospital and Mattie Furphy House just to name a few.