Running a business from home in Noosa — do you need approval?
Noosa Shire Council's planning scheme — the Noosa Plan 2020 — decides whether a home business needs a development application, and the answer depends on the zone your property is in. Below is what its table of assessment says for each zone; or check your own address.
In a low density residential
Accepted if you meet the requirements. A home business needs no development application if it runs inside the existing home with no more than four people on site, no high-impact activities and no visitors after 7pm or on weekends (or is a home stay with up to two guest bedrooms); otherwise it needs a code assessable application.
I don't know my zone — choose my council instead
The zone is on your rates notice, or a Landbrief site report will find it for you.
Zone by zone
Home-based business. Residential zones first.
| Zone | What the table says | Conditions | What you'll need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low Density Residential | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.1 | not home hosted accommodation: within an existing dwelling or associated building, no more than four persons on site, no high impact activities, no customers/employees/deliveries 7pm–7am weekdays or on weekends and public holidays; or home hosted accommodation with no more than two guest bedroomsIf not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Applicable Local Plan Code, Low Density Residential Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
| Medium Density Residential | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.2 | within an existing dwelling or associated building, no more than one visitor at a time, no high impact activities, no external display of goods, no customers/employees/deliveries (other than overnight guests) 7pm–7am weekdays or on weekends and public holidaysIf not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Applicable Local Plan Code, Medium Density Residential Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
| High Density Residential | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.3 | within an existing dwelling or associated building, no more than one visitor at a time, no high impact activities, no external display of goods, no customers/employees/deliveries (other than overnight guests) 7pm–7am weekdays or on weekends and public holidaysIf not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Applicable Local Plan Code, High Density Residential Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
| Tourist Accommodation | Needs a development application (impact assessment — neighbours can make submissions) Table 5.5.4 | a home-based business is not a listed use in this zone | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: The planning scheme |
| Rural Residential | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.14 | not home hosted accommodation: within an existing dwelling or associated building, no more than six people on site, no high impact activities, retail no more than 5 m², no customers/employees/deliveries 7pm–7am weekdays or on weekends and public holidays; or home hosted accommodation with no more than three guest bedroomsIf not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Rural Residential Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
| Community Facilities | Needs a development application (impact assessment — neighbours can make submissions) Table 5.5.11 | a home-based business is not a listed use in this zone | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: The planning scheme |
| District Centre | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.6 | within an existing dwelling, no home hosted accommodation or high impact activities, no more than one visitor at a time, no external display of goodsIf not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Applicable Local Plan Code, District Centre Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
| Environmental Management and Conservation | Needs a development application (impact assessment — neighbours can make submissions) Table 5.5.15 | a home-based business is not a listed use in this zone | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: The planning scheme |
| Innovation Zone | Needs a development application (impact assessment — neighbours can make submissions) Table 5.5.12 | a home-based business is not a listed use in this zone | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: The planning scheme |
| Local Centre | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.7 | within a dwelling, no home hosted accommodation or high impact activities, no more than two people (including the resident operator) on the premises for the business, no external display of goodsIf not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Applicable Local Plan Code, Local Centre Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
| Low Impact Industry | Needs a development application (impact assessment — neighbours can make submissions) Table 5.5.9 | a home-based business is not a listed use in this zone | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: The planning scheme |
| Major Centre | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.5 | within an existing dwelling, no home hosted accommodation or high impact activities, no more than one visitor at a time, no external display of goods and not on Lot 3 RP884396 (99 Noosa Drive, Noosa Heads)If not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Noosa Heads Local Plan Code, Major Centre Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
| Medium Impact Industry | Needs a development application (impact assessment — neighbours can make submissions) Table 5.5.10 | a home-based business is not a listed use in this zone | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: The planning scheme |
| Neighbourhood Centre | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.8 | within a dwelling, no home hosted accommodation or high impact activities, no more than two people (including the resident operator) on the premises for the business, no external display of goodsIf not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Applicable Local Plan Code, Neighbourhood Centre Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
| Recreation and Open Space | Needs a development application (impact assessment — neighbours can make submissions) Table 5.5.16 | a home-based business is not a listed use in this zone | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: The planning scheme |
| Rural | Accepted if you meet the requirements Table 5.5.13 | not home hosted accommodation: within an existing dwelling or associated building, no more than six people on site, retail sales no more than 5 m²; or home hosted accommodation in part of the dwelling house with no more than three guest bedroomsIf not met: a development application with code assessment. | Nothing further under the planning schemeAssessed against: Rural Zone Code, Home-based Business Code, Works codes |
Overlays that change the answer
- Biodiversity, Waterways and Wetlands Overlay. A material change of use or building work becomes code assessable where it clears mapped biodiversity significance or riparian buffer vegetation or is on the riparian buffer part of the lot (not where inside an existing building, within an approved building envelope or exempt clearing). (Table 5.9.2 Biodiversity, Waterways and Wetlands Overlay)
- Regional Infrastructure Overlay. In a water resource catchment and water supply buffer area, a change of use (other than a dwelling house or community residence) that adds an on-site wastewater system or more people living, staying or working on site becomes code assessable; near a gas pipeline or major electricity infrastructure most changes of use other than a dwelling house are code assessable; reconfiguring a lot is code assessable against the Regional Infrastructure Overlay Code. (Table 5.9.9 Regional Infrastructure Overlay)
Worth knowing in Noosa
Noosa Plan 2020 (Amendment 3, effective 20 March 2026), Part 5. A material change of use is impact assessable unless the table says otherwise or the use isn't listed; reconfiguring a lot is code assessable in every zone (Table 5.6.1); building work and operational work are accepted unless the tables say otherwise. Noosa makes demolition or removal of any building code assessable in all zones (Table 5.7.1), unusually. Building work for a dwelling house or a Class 10 structure (shed, carport, pool, fence) is accepted subject to requirements in the Low, Medium and High Density Residential, Tourist Accommodation, Rural Residential and Rural zones; in all other zones building work is accepted only inside an existing building with no new buildings or expansion, otherwise code assessable. A building approval under the Building Act is still needed in all cases. Accepted development subject to requirements that doesn't meet the listed acceptable outcomes becomes code assessable (section 5.3.3). A dwelling house includes a secondary dwelling (granny flat); in the Medium and High Density Residential zones a dwelling house is only listed for lots under 500 m², so on bigger lots the 'any other use' impact row applies. Schedule 6, Part 2 of the Planning Regulation 2017 can make a dwelling house, community residence, home-based business or rooming accommodation accepted regardless of these tables. Precincts: the Major Centre (Noosa Junction Hospitality; Noosa Business Centre Showroom, Business Park, Retail, Village Mixed Use), District Centre (Mary/Thomas Street Health and Wellbeing, Doonella Street, Noosaville Mainstreet), Low Impact Industry (Lionel Donovan Drive Auto, Hofmann Drive, Factory Street, Kin Kin, Gateway West Makers) and Medium Impact Industry (Venture Drive Enterprise) zones have precinct tables that vary some uses; the 'Where not located in a Precinct' tables are empty on the ePlan, so the parent zone table applies outside precincts. The Major Centre page labels its own table 'Table 5.5.1' (a typo) — it is Table 5.5.5. Many rows are tied to named lots or streets (e.g. 99 Noosa Drive, Gympie Terrace, Hastings Street) — check the conditions. Where premises are in more than one zone or overlay, the highest category applies to the part affected. Operational work for a dwelling driveway is accepted subject to the Low Density Housing Code; excavation or filling over 10 m³ (residential and environmental zones) or 100 m³ (other zones) is code assessable. Vegetation clearing benchmarks sit in the Biodiversity, Waterways and Wetlands Overlay Code; state Vegetation Management Act rules apply separately.
What else you'll need
- Nothing beyond the planning scheme's own requirements.
More about Noosa
- What can you build in Noosa? Council overview and development applications
- Every Queensland zone explained, with what each council allows and the planning overlays that change the answer
- What Noosa Shire Council charges for a development application, compared with other councils
- A Landbrief site report for your Noosa address — every planning layer that applies to the lot
- Development applications in Noosaville
- Development applications in Noosa Heads
- Development applications in Cooroy
- Development applications in Peregian Beach
- Development applications in Sunshine Beach
- Development applications in Exempt Clearing
Other projects in Noosa
Granny flatDual occupancySubdivideShed or carportExtensionPoolFence or wallTownhousesShop, café or officeClear treesDemolish
The statewide position on this project: Home business in Queensland.
Read from the Noosa Plan 2020 tables of assessment. General information, not advice. The council's planning scheme and the Planning Act 2016 decide — confirm with the council or a town planner before you build.