A knock on the door alerted Carlos his home of 18 years is in heritage limbo

Homes in the Melbourne’s east are being left in heritage limbo with 80 properties flagged for potential protection, sometimes without their owners even knowing.

Whitehorse City Council is preparing to refer the properties, built between the late 19th century and after World War II, to the state planning minister for formal heritage protection.

But the process has been stalled for 18 months, leaving many owners unaware they could be restricted from doing renovations or demolishing buildings.

It’s not a situation unique to Whitehorse, with no requirement for home owners to be told until the formal process – which includes public consultation – begins.

Hayley Forder and her fiance only learnt the council would recommend an interim heritage overlay on the “decrepit, unliveable” home they bought in 2024 when they applied for a demolition permit, which would have paused any action on the house.

Forder, who specialised in heritage studies at university, said there was no mention of the overlay when they were purchasing the house, and the issue was not listed on the vendor’s statement in the contract or promoted on the council’s website.

“We got a last-minute call and were told that council had basically a stop action on it,” Forder said.

“We were given less than a week’s notice to appear at the council meeting basically to argue our case as to why the house should not have a heritage overlay applied.”

The couple appealed directly to councillors, who decided not to push for the interim protection and the house was legally demolished.

Two weeks ago, Whitehorse councillors voted to delay referring 80 properties in a similar situation for formal heritage protections and agreed to wait 18 months while other properties are reviewed and owners notified.

Carlos Martins’ Burwood home of 18 years first appeared in a 2012 heritage study and is now flagged for protection. However, he was unaware until a concerned councillor knocked on his door to tell him last month.

“I’m very upset about that,” Martins said.

“Common courtesy would have it that residents in your area have the right to know what your intentions are for their property.”

Martins’ home would be the only one on his street with heritage protection and could eventually be surrounded by tall buildings, as it’s located a few hundred metres from the Burwood Suburban Rail Loop station, which could have accompanying plans for buildings up to seven storeys high.

Martins said he wasn’t against high-density living and that under different circumstances, he’d be proud that his home is considered historic. But he said he was worried the value of his land could plummet.

“Who would want to buy a patch of land that they can’t develop in an area that’s been highly developed? Nobody,” he said.

However, Box Hill resident Damon Nash was delighted his house could be protected as he considers it as a recognition of history rather than a restriction.

“There’s going to be no visual changes to the period character on my watch as it is, so whether it’s got an overlay or not, personally, it doesn’t really change anything,” he said.

Whitehorse heritage proponents fear historic homes could be lost in the next 18 months before the council’s formal protection process starts.

Box Hill Historical Society president Helen Harris said properties need to be protected for various reasons, including notable inhabitants, significant architecture and unusual designs.

“It’s part of the heritage and the fabric of a community to keep these things and to protect them and to look after them if possible,” Harris said.

However, she said a heritage overlay would not automatically stop major renovations, as in many cases, it might only require a house’s facade to stay the same.

Victorian councils are obligated to do heritage reviews and home owners often only find out about them or interim protections after they come into force, according to Liz Taylor, a Monash University senior lecturer in urban planning and design.

Taylor said owners and buyers could get stuck in a “limbo period” that can last years, and interim protections could be so contentious that sometimes they end up being abandoned.

“There needs to be more clarity and assistance to property owners or the controls end up being ineffective: it’s a bit of a race to demolish the old stuff before anything comes in,” she said.

Planning lawyer Nick Crawford said heritage was a balancing act between the expectations of those concerned with protections and individuals wanting to advance developments.

“It might seem jarring that controls can just be put on this way, but it does serve, on one view, an important public policy purpose for protecting heritage assets,” he said.

“Particularly when an amendment goes through the open process for permanent controls and the heritage control is found to be warranted or justified.”

Whitehorse Mayor Kirsten Langford said no final decisions had been made, but the council had to balance housing growth with maintaining neighbourhood character.

She said it was important not to publicise planning information prematurely so that the community had all the information they needed before providing feedback.

A Department of Transport and Planning spokesperson said councils were responsible for communicating clearly about any potential changes to their planning schemes.

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