Property + Developments

The Overseas Investment (National Interest and Other Matters) Amendment Bill was passed on Friday, 12 December and is expected to come into force in the new year. These changes introduce important new opportunities - and obligations - for investor migrants looking to purchase residential property in New Zealand.

In this episode of On Farm Legal, Richard Rodden discusses with Andy Thompson the amendments to the Public Works Act 1981 (PWA), which aim to accelerate land acquisition processes for critical infrastructure while improving fairness for affected landowners.

The Government is reforming the Public Works Act 1981 to speed up land acquisition for critical infrastructure and improve fairness for landowners. PWA specialist, Richard Rodden has outlined the upcoming stages in a recent article. The changes aim to reduce delays and uncertainty, with the first Bill expected to take effect by late 2025, with retrospective application to certain ongoing acquisitions.

Off the back of the Government’s recent fast track announcements, another piece of the delivery plan around public infrastructure projects has been revealed. On Tuesday 18th June the Government announced that it intends modernising the Public Works Act 1981 (PWA). The PWA is the legislation that the Crown and Local Authorities use to compulsorily acquire land needed for infrastructure projects. The PWA is now over 40 years old and has not been substantially amended since 1988. It is generally considered to be complicated, convoluted and cumbersome.

The Government is proposing to make it easier to build small, self-contained and detached houses – commonly known as “granny flats” – by removing the need to obtain building consent and certain resource consents. The changes are intended to improve housing affordability and alleviate the housing shortage by reducing costs and timeframes involved. For the purposes of this article, we refer to these types of units as Minor Residential units (MRUs).

Introduced under urgency last month, the Fast-track Approvals Bill creates a “one-stop-shop” pathway for infrastructure and development projects to obtain resource consents and other legislative approvals. We summarise key aspects of the Bill and what it means for eligible projects.

Significant changes to the corporate governance disclosure rules were proposed last year and a draft bill is expected to be released in mid 2023. These changes are intended to improve the transparency of beneficial ownership of companies and limited partnerships, and signal a major departure from the long-standing ability of these beneficial owners to remain anonymous.

Southern Response v Dodds is a successful claim brought against Southern Response for misrepresentation, misleading and deceptive conduct, and breach of an implied duty of good faith in settling their earthquake insurance claim. Southern Response are now compensating up to 3,000 homeowners who cash settled an earthquake claim with AMI or Southern Response prior to 1 October 2014 where an internal "Detailed Repair/Rebuild Analysis" was not provided.

Government caps for Kāinga Ora products (First Home Grants, First Home Loans, and Kāinga Whenua Loan Scheme) have been removed or increased, in order to help first-home buyers into houses.

Since 1 July 2021 New Zealand rental properties have had to be compliant with the Healthy Homes Standards within 90 days of the start, or the renewal, of a tenancy (subject to certain exemptions). Consequently landlords need to be familiar with their obligations and turn their minds to whether or not their rental property meets the requirements. So what are the requirements?

The Resource Management (Enabling Housing Supply and Other Matters) Amendment Act was quickly passed into law in December 2021. Its significance on future urban development and planning cannot be understated, enabling housing intensification in certain areas.

In late 2021, the Law Commission completed its review of succession law in New Zealand. The Government is now considering the report. What are the possible outcomes for New Zealanders?