Transferring a lease or licence
Exemptions from needing our approval for a transfer
Leases
Under the Land Act 1994, some leaseholders whose lease satisfies certain criteria don't need to obtain our approval before a transfer can take place.
Note: the exemption from approval to transfer only applies to the lessee and a sublessee of an exempt lease. If there is a sale of a lease by a local government, the local government will need to apply for approval to transfer.
Exemption criteria
To be exempt, your lease must be one of the following:
- primary production leases in rental category 11
- residential leases in rental category 12
- business and government core business leases in rental category 13
The lease must not be:
- issued for significant development and require a financial and managerial capability assessment
- subject to a:
- performance guarantee bond
- deed of indemnity
- mortgagee in possession
- sale by a mortgagee exercising a power of sale or have an appointed receiver or manager.
In addition to the criteria above:
- the lease, or the lease land or a thing on the lease land subject to the lease, must not be subject to either of the following notices:
- a remedial action notice under chapter 5, part 2, division 5 of the Land Act 1994
- a safety notice under chapter 7, part 1A of the Land Act 1994
- the lease must not be a lease where the lessee has been given a notice under section 235(1) or section 238(3) of the Land Act 1994 (where the notice has not been withdrawn)
- the lease must not be on a regulated island under the Land Act 1994.
or
If the exemption applies to you, a noting has been lodged on your leasehold land title.
Read the guideline on exemption for land lease transfers (PDF, 232 KB) to check if this exemption apples to you.
Refer to our policy on transfer of leases, licences and subleases (PDF, 193 KB) for more information.
Road licences
An exemption also applies to road licences if:
- the licence is held by the registered owner of freehold land or lessee of lease land under the Land Act 1994
- the licence land and the freehold or lease land are both the subject of a covenant that ties the 2 parcels
- the freehold or lease land is also being transferred to the person
- for a person who is an individual, the person is an adult.
When lodging the transfer with the Titles Queensland, you will need to lodge a copy of a rental position showing all rental has been paid up to date on the road licence (and lease if applicable) and a statutory declaration signed by the incoming licensees stating that they are aware of the conditions of the licence (and lease if applicable).
What happens next?
If this exemption applies to you, read our guide to lease transfers for exempt leases.
If you are not exempt, you must obtain our prior approval for a transfer. Read our guide to transferring a lease or licence when consent to transfer is required.
In this guide:
- Exemptions from needing our approval for a transfer
- Lease transfers for exempt leases or licence transfer
- Transferring a lease or licence when approval to transfer is required
- Transferring a lease or licence when approval to transfer is required
- Information for mortgagees and receivers
- Extending a rolling term lease