Changes to Overseas Investment Criteria
Overseas buyers wanting to buy sites of special heritage* or environmental value will be subjected to a tougher screening and compliance regime under proposed changes. The main changes are:
- Overseas applicants wishing to purchase land assets will have to include - in the asset management plan attached to their application - how they will manage any historic, heritage, conservation or public access factors relevant to the property, as well as any economic development planned.
- Plans submitted by an overseas investor in support of his/her purchase will be made conditions of consent.
- To keep costs to the taxpayer down, the onus of compliance will be on the overseas investor. Investors will be required to report regularly (every one or two years) on how they are complying with the terms of their consent and outline any reasons for non-compliance. Monitoring will continue until all obligations have been met.
- The Crown will have a new right of first refusal over foreshore and seabed land where this would otherwise be sold into foreign ownership.
- The threshold for screening non-land business assets where the proposed acquisition entails a 25 percent or more shareholding will be raised from $50 million to $100 million.
- Purchases involving land with an unimproved value of more than $10 million will no longer require consent where the land is not screened for other reasons. (As the $10 million applies to land value alone and as any rural land sales over 5 hectares will continue to require consent, this provision is expected to affect only purchases within the main centre CBDs.)
- Land adjoining some non-sensitive reserves, for example, drainage and hospital reserves, will be removed from the coverage of the Overseas Investment Act.
The Overseas Investment Commission, which currently assesses applications from foreign buyers, is to be disestablished, and its functions transferred to a new unit within Land Information NZ.
* Note: Special properties include the foreshore and seabed, fishing quota and all sites over 0.4 hectares which are subject to a heritage order; registered or proposed for registration under the Historic Places Act or; classified as an historic, scenic, scientific or nature reserve and administered by the Department of Conservation under the Reserves Act |
Contact for Enquiries
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
Pastoral House
25 The Terrace
PO Box 2526, Wellington
Tel: 0800 00 83 33
Fax: +64 4 894 0720
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