About this pathway
This consent pathway can be used by an overseas person who wants to invest in sensitive land in New Zealand.
Examples of investments using this pathway:
- Investment in 9 hectares of rural land to develop luxury tourist accommodation.
- Investment in 20 hectares of land to develop into health facilities including two residential properties.
- Investment in 100 hectares of land to plant a new variety of grapes and develop a restaurant on the land.
- Investment in a factory, including the 2 hectares of land it is located on.
Who needs consent
If you are an overseas person, you need consent to invest in non-residential or otherwise sensitive land.
What investing includes
Investing includes:
- buying freehold property
- leasing property
- acquiring any other non-exempted interest for a term of 10 years or more – including rights of renewal.
Find out more about exempted interests
Assessment criteria
Your application will be assessed against these criteria:
Investor test
We use the investor test to assess whether someone wanting to invest in New Zealand meets our requirements.
Benefit to New Zealand test
The benefit to New Zealand test assesses a potential investment against 7 factors to determine if the investment is likely to provide benefit New Zealand.
If the sensitive land is farm land or includes farm land, and exceeds 5 hectares, the farm land benefit test is applied. The applicant must demonstrate that one or more benefits under a factor of high importance are of a scale and nature that represents a substantial benefit to New Zealand.
Farm land
If the sensitive land is farm land or includes farm land, and exceeds 5 hectares, the farm land benefit test is applied.
Farm land must be offered for sale on the open market prior to a transaction being entered into with an overseas person, and the advertising needs to follow defined requirements. Advertising is to be for a minimum of 30 days. Advertisements must be both online and in a print publication and fall within specified timeframes.
Applications that include a significant business asset
If your application includes a significant business asset, you will need to provide tax information when you apply. We will pass this information directly to Inland Revenue without viewing it. Note that we will not start to assess your application until we receive confirmation from Inland Revenue that information is complete.
Get legal help
To confirm which requirements apply to you, we recommend you seek expert legal and land advice as early as possible.
Apply
Find information and resources to help you apply for consent online.