From 22 October 2018 every purchaser of residential or lifestyle property- with or without a house – is required to complete a Residential Land Statement advising whether they need Overseas Investment Office (OIO) approval to buy the land.
The purchasers lawyer will usually be the one to file this Statement prior to settlement. However real estate agents and salespeople will be expected to query the citizenship and residency status of purchasers prior to drawing up an offer.
This is a significant change.
OIO have a guideline of 65 days to make a decision on an application to purchase – if all the information required is incomplete on day one, things will get dragged out longer.
Consequences of ignoring OIO consent
Land Information NZ and OIO have produced several flyers on this matter:
oio_right-to-buy-residential-nz_20181004 (2)
Buying Rural or Forestry Land?
For the rules around this refer to the NZ Overseas Investment Office . If you are based overseas and not a NZ citizen we recommend you seek legal advice on ownership prior to searching for a NZ farm or lifestyle property.
But don’t be put off, many overseas persons have successfully purchased and invested in Rural real estate.
A common way to enter the market is as a part-owner of a going concern farming operation – an Equity Partnership is the vehicle many have used for this purpose. Other forms of ownership and management structure can also be thought about.
If you wish to be kept informed of investments such as Equity Partnerships where you may participate, send us an email using the form on the sidebar of this page
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