Pānui - June 2025

Kia ora koutou

Overseas investment reforms are well and truly underway with the Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Bill passing its first reading in Parliament last week.  

The Bill has now been referred to the Finance and Expenditure Committee which will examine the Bill and hear public submissions before reporting back to the House by 31 October 2025. 

Public submissions are open until 23 July 2025 at the Parliament website: Overseas Investment (National Interest Test and Other Matters) Amendment Bill. The Bill is expected to pass by the end of the year, with the reformed regime in place by early 2026.

As Associate Finance Minister David Seymour noted last week, LINZ is well on track to meeting decision timeframe expectations. In the 2024/25 financial year ending today, 30 June 2025, we processed 88 percent of consent applications (excluding One Home to Live In consents) in half the statutory timeframe, compared to 24 percent in the 2023/24 financial year. 100 percent of One Home to Live In consents were processed within half the statutory timeframe in the 2024/25 financial year.

‘Overseas investment decisions twice as fast’ - 23 June

The average timeframe for consent decisions, excluding One Home to Live In consents, has reduced from 71 working days to 28 working days this financial year. These are significant process improvements, and we look forward to keeping up the good work in the new financial year. 

Read on for the latest overseas investment decision summaries and advice on determining residential land status, and remember to keep an eye on our website for updates as the Bill progresses.  

And stay warm everyone! 

Ngā mihi

Rebecca McAtamney
Head of Regulatory Practice and Delivery
Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand

Is it residential land? 

Residential land is sensitive land, and overseas people need consent to buy it. But how do you tell if land is residential?  

You can’t tell for sure that land is residential by how it’s being used. Instead, you need to check the property category in the relevant District Valuation Roll (DVR). This is different to the land’s ‘zone’ in the District Plan. If the property category in the DVR is ‘residential’ or ‘lifestyle’, then the land is residential land. You can check a property’s category on the Quotable Value website at www.qv.co.nz - look for an ‘R’ or ‘L’ as the first letter of the category code. You can also check with the local council. 

If you are advising overseas people, help them get it right by remembering to check if the property they’re looking at is residential land. If it is, make sure to include an Overseas Investment condition in the purchase agreement, and advise them to apply for consent.  

You can find more information on how to apply for consent for residential land on our website.

Buying residential property to live in - What type of land is it?

Decision summaries

Decision summaries are published the month after a decision is made. The latest decision summaries are listed here, including standing consent notifications.

Benefit to New Zealand

202500111 - Parklands Properties Limited

202500120 - Parklands Properties Limited

202400710 - Holcim (New Zealand) Limited

Significant business assets only

202500234 - Rethmann France SAS 

202500202 - Teradyne (New Zealand) Holdings Limited 

202400242 - Shelley Newco 2 Pty Ltd

202500267 - Orca New Bidco Limited

Special Forestry 

202500201 - SCOOF Poumahaka Investments Limited 

202500263 - ERI Timber New Zealand S.á.r.l.  

Standing Consent – Residential Housing Development

202500088 - Arvida Limited

Exemption – Discretionary

202500260 - Castlerock Partners LP

202500270 - JBS Participações Societárias S.A.

202500085 - Withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Official Information Act 1982 

Exemption - Farm land advertising

202500212 - T&G Global Limited and Roc Asset Management Pty Limited

Exemption – non-NZ Government investor 

202500130 - ANZLAFF NZ Limited

Notifications under a standing consent – residential

202000792 #10 - Fletcher Residential Limited