Country-wide policy
Buying a House Needs Consent Unless You Are Not an Overseas Person - and the Test for That Is a Resident Visa, Twelve Months Here and New Zealand Tax Residence
New Zealand screens foreign purchases of land through the Overseas Investment Act 2005. Section 10(1) says a transaction requires consent if it will result in an overseas investment in sensitive land, and since 2018 residential land is sensitive land, so an ordinary house is inside the regime. Whether the regime catches a particular buyer turns on one definition. Section 7(2)(a) makes an individual an overseas person if they are neither a New Zealand citizen nor ordinarily resident in New Zealand, and section 6(2)(a) gives 'ordinarily resident in New Zealand' a special meaning for residential land transactions: the person must hold a residence class visa granted under the Immigration Act 2009, must have been residing in New Zealand for at least the immediately preceding 12 months, and must be tax resident in New Zealand. The third limb is not the ordinary tax test. Section 6(2A) defines it as being a New Zealand resident under section YD 1(3) of the Income Tax Act 2007 - the 183-day rule - with the 12-month period read as the immediately preceding twelve months and the backdating rules in section YD 1(4) to (6) disregarded. So a person who is tax resident only through having a permanent place of abode here, under section YD 1(2), does not satisfy it. Three tests, all three of which must be true at once, and a resident visa on its own is never enough. Two nationalities are carved out entirely. Regulation 75 of the Overseas Investment Regulations 2005 says a transaction does not require consent to the extent that it results in an overseas investment in residential but not otherwise sensitive land and every relevant investor is either an Australian investor or not an overseas person; regulation 81 says the same for Singaporean investors. Both were inserted on 22 October 2018, the Australian one to implement the Australian CER Investment Protocol and the Singaporean one to implement the Singapore CEP. The definitions are narrower than they look. An 'Australian individual' is an Australian citizen under Australian law, or an Australian permanent resident under Australian law who is also ordinarily resident in New Zealand; a 'Singaporean individual' is a national of Singapore under Singaporean law, or a Singaporean permanent resident who is ordinarily resident in New Zealand. The citizenship limb carries no New Zealand connection at all; the permanent residence limb carries the full one.
Topics it changes
What it requires
- Consent from the regulator for any transaction resulting in an overseas investment in sensitive land, which includes residential land
- To be outside the regime as an individual: New Zealand citizenship, or a residence class visa plus 12 months residing in New Zealand plus New Zealand tax residence under the 183-day rule
- No consent needed where every relevant investor is an Australian investor, a Singaporean investor, or not an overseas person, and the land is residential but not otherwise sensitive
At a glance
- Three conditions to stop being an overseas person for a house purchase
- A residence class visa, 12 months residing in New Zealand immediately before, and New Zealand tax residence - all three
Section 6(2)(a) of the Overseas Investment Act 2005. A resident visa granted yesterday satisfies the first limb and neither of the others.
- Which tax residence test counts
- Section YD 1(3) of the Income Tax Act 2007 only - the 183-day rule, read over the immediately preceding 12 months
Section 6(2A) of the Overseas Investment Act 2005, which also disregards the backdating rules in section YD 1(4) to (6). Residence acquired through a permanent place of abode under section YD 1(2) does not satisfy it.
- Australian citizens
- No consent needed for residential but not otherwise sensitive land, with no New Zealand connection required
Regulation 75 of the Overseas Investment Regulations 2005, with the definition of Australian individual in regulation 74.
- Singaporean nationals
- No consent needed for residential but not otherwise sensitive land, with no New Zealand connection required
Regulation 81 of the Overseas Investment Regulations 2005, with the definition of Singaporean individual in regulation 80.
- Australian and Singaporean permanent residents
- Covered only if they are also ordinarily resident in New Zealand
Regulations 74 and 80. The permanent residence limb of each definition adds the New Zealand connection that the citizenship limb omits, so a permanent resident of either country who has never lived in New Zealand is outside the exemption.
- What the exemptions do not reach
- Land that is sensitive for any reason other than being residential
Regulations 75(a) and 81(a) both say 'residential (but not otherwise sensitive) land'. Farm land, foreshore, land adjoining reserves and the other categories in section 12 of the Act are outside both.
Three conditions, and the order they fall into place
A person who moves to New Zealand on a resident visa cannot buy a house on arrival. The visa satisfies one of the three limbs in section 6(2)(a); the twelve months of residing here satisfies the second only after a year; and the tax residence limb is satisfied by more than 183 days of presence in the immediately preceding twelve months. In practice the three converge at about the one-year mark for somebody who arrives and stays, and never converge at all for somebody who holds residence and lives abroad. That includes an Australian who took a resident visa at the border and went home - except that the Australian does not need the test, because regulation 75 exempts them by citizenship.
Why the tax limb is narrower than the Income Tax Act
Section 6(2A) could have said 'a New Zealand resident under section YD 1 of the Income Tax Act 2007' and did not. It names subsection (3) alone, which is the 183-day count, and it strips out subsections (4) to (6), which backdate the start and the end of residence. The effect is to require actual physical presence in the twelve months before the purchase, and to exclude the route into tax residence that needs no days at all - the permanent place of abode in section YD 1(2). Someone who keeps a home in New Zealand and visits rarely is a New Zealand tax resident and is still an overseas person for the purpose of buying another one.
Two exemptions, one shape, opposite halves
Regulations 75 and 81 are drafted identically and their definitions are mirror images. For both Australia and Singapore, the citizenship or nationality limb reaches a person with no connection to New Zealand whatever, and the permanent residence limb reaches only a person who is ordinarily resident in New Zealand - which is to say, a person who would not have needed the exemption. The exemptions come from trade law rather than from immigration law: the Australian one implements the CER Investment Protocol and the Singaporean one the Singapore CEP, both inserted by the same amending regulation on 22 October 2018, three days before the residential land regime began.
What the law says
«A transaction requires consent under this Act if it will result in—»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
The two limbs are an overseas investment in sensitive land, defined by section 12, and an overseas investment in significant business assets, defined by section 13.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«an individual who is neither a New Zealand citizen nor ordinarily resident in New Zealand; or»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
About this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«has been residing in New Zealand for at least the immediately preceding 12 months; and»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
The limb before it requires a residence class visa under the Immigration Act 2009, and the limb after it requires New Zealand tax residence. All three must be satisfied for a residential land transaction.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«tax resident in New Zealand means a person who is a New Zealand resident under section YD 1(3) of the Income Tax Act 2007, where the reference in section YD 1(3) to a 12-month period is treated as the immediately preceding 12 months (disregarding the rules in section YD 1(4) to (6) of that Act).»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
A deliberate narrowing: the Income Tax Act's own primary test is the permanent place of abode in section YD 1(2), and this definition reaches only the day count in subsection (3).
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«every relevant investor either is an Australian investor or is not an overseas person.»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
Inserted on 22 October 2018 by regulation 18 of the Overseas Investment Amendment Regulations 2018 (LI 2018/154), to implement the Australian CER Investment Protocol.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«a permanent resident of Australia under Australian law and who is ordinarily resident in New Zealand»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
The other limb of the definition is 'an Australian citizen under Australian law', with no New Zealand condition. The same regulation says 'Australia does not include its external territories'.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«every relevant investor either is a Singaporean investor or is not an overseas person.»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
Inserted on the same day as the Australian exemption by the same amending regulation.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«a permanent resident of Singapore under Singaporean law and who is ordinarily resident in New Zealand»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
The other limb is 'a national of Singapore under Singaporean law', with no New Zealand condition - the mirror image of the Australian definition in regulation 74.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«The purpose of this subpart is to implement obligations in the Singapore CEP in relation to overseas investments in sensitive land where the relevant land is residential (but not otherwise sensitive) land.»Known to be out of date. The page carries the publisher's own line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated'.
The exemptions exist because of trade agreements, not because of any immigration relationship. That is why the Australian one does not follow the trans-Tasman travel arrangement's shape.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The Parliamentary Counsel Office publishes New Zealand's Acts and secondary legislation here, and the Legislation Act 2019 gives what it publishes a legal status most publishers in this corpus do not have. Section 78(1) lets the PCO publish official electronic versions; section 79(1)(b) says that an official version that is a consolidation 'is taken to correctly state, as at its stated date, the law enacted or made by the legislation consolidated and by the amendments', and section 79(3) adds that the presumptions apply 'unless the contrary is shown'. Each Act carries its own 'as at' date on the page: the Immigration Act 2009 read on 11 October 2026 is as at 10 July 2026. A `whole.html` address returns the entire instrument in one document, which is what makes an exhaustive negative claim possible here.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The 'as at' date is a cut-off and the page states it without calling it one, so every citation of a consolidated text needs `consolidatedAsOf`. Worse, some pages carry the line 'Some amendments have not yet been incorporated' - the Immigration (Visa, Entry Permission, and Related Matters) Regulations 2010 did on 11 October 2026 - and that is a consolidation gap stated by the publisher itself. Section 79A says the PCO's own publication notes, legislative history and machine-readable links do not form part of the official text, so the amendment notes under each section are not law. It cannot be cited for immigration instructions: those are not legislation and are not published here at all.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Section 12 of the Overseas Investment Act 2005, which defines sensitive land, and Schedule 1, which lists the categories, were not read in full. What makes land sensitive for a reason other than being residential - farm land, foreshore, islands, land adjoining a reserve - is therefore not set out here.
Schedule 2 of the Act, which holds the residential land tests including the commitment to reside test and the increased housing test, was read only in the fragments quoted. How consent is actually obtained by someone who needs it is not recorded.
No figure for a fee, a threshold or a timeframe is stated here because none was read in an instrument.
Nothing published by the regulator - Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand, which runs the Overseas Investment Office - was read. The divergence between the Act and the regulator's practice is therefore untested.
Both the Act and the Regulations carry the publisher's own warning that some amendments have not yet been incorporated, so a change after 6 March 2026 for the Act or 11 September 2026 for the Regulations would not be visible in what was read.