Page 38 - English-DBINZ brochure-2019

35 Doing business in New Zealand

Sensitive land
Overseas persons, or their associates, must get regulatory consent to invest in sensitive land in New
Zealand. Consent is required to acquire a freehold interest in sensitive land, or a leasehold (or any other)
interest in sensitive land for a term of three years or more. An interest in sensitive land may be acquired
directly, for example by acquiring the land under a sale and purchase agreement, or indirectly, for
example by acquiring a 25% or more interest in a company that owns sensitive land.

Land is sensitive land if it includes:
ə Residential land of any size, which includes land categorised as residential (R) or lifestyle (L) in the
relevant District Valuation Roll
ə Non-urban land greater than 5 hectares. Non-urban land includes:
– farm land, which is land used for agricultural, horticultural, or pastoral purposes, or for the
keeping of bees, poultry or livestock
– any land other than land that is both in an urban area, and used for commercial, industrial or
residential purposes
ə Land on a number of specified islands around New Zealand
ə Foreshore or seabed
ə Land greater than 0.4 hectares that is:

– part of a lake bed
– historic land
– held for conservation purposes
– subject to a heritage order
– used as a reserve
– set apart as Māori reservation.
Sensitive land also includes land that adjoins certain types of land (for example, foreshore, the bed of a
lake, a reserve or regional park, conservation land, or land that includes a historic place or is subject to a
heritage order) and exceeds specified size limits.
On 22 October 2018, the Overseas Investment Amendment Act came into force. This brought residential
land within the scope of the regime, so that the acquisition of residential land interests by any non-New
Zealand citizen or resident is restricted (with exceptions for Australian and Singaporean citizens).

WHO IS AN OVERSEAS PERSON?
An “overseas person” is:

ə An individual who is neither a New Zealand citizen nor ordinarily resident in New Zealand
ə A company that is incorporated outside New Zealand
ə A company that is 25% or more owned or controlled by overseas persons
ə Certain types of partnerships, joint ventures, trusts, or unit trusts that are (in broad terms) 25% or
more managed, controlled, or governed (as applicable) by an overseas person(s), or where 25% or
more of the beneficiaries of the relevant entity are overseas persons.

For the purposes of an investment in residential land, a different definition of “ordinarily resident in
New Zealand” applies, compared with investments in other types of sensitive land. However, the
requirements for both are prescriptive and entail more than simply having permanent residency status.