Can Māori freehold land be sold?
Māori freehold land can only be sold in accordance with the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993. If you own shares in a block of Māori land you are allowed to sell them, but generally only to someone who is in the “preferred class of alienees” (eg your offspring).
Newton's investigation reveals that in total 56 percent of New Zealand is privately owned land. Within that 3.3 percent is in foreign hands and 6.7 percent is Maori-owned. At least 28 percent of the entire country is in public ownership, compared with say the UK where only eight percent is public land.
New Zealand is the sixth-largest island country in the world, with a land size of 268,710 km2 (103,750 sq mi).
Can I change my General land to Māori freehold land? Yes, this is possible, and needs an order from the Māori Land Court. You'll need to lodge an application with the court, along with a current certificate of title from Land Information New Zealand.
Maori land has been estimated at about 5.6 per cent of New Zealand's total land area of 26.9 million hectares (Table 1).
Māori land is owned by either one owner or several owners. In some cases there are hundreds of owners for one block or title1. When an owner dies, it is important to transfer his or her interests to whoever is entitled to receive those interests. Those people are called successors2 and the process is called succession.
China Forestry Group New Zealand Company Limited (17087 hectares): Ultimately owned by the Chinese government's State Forestry Administration. Owns forests throughout the North Island. 20. New Zealand Pastures Limited (16480 hectares): Canterbury-based farming company, majority New Zealand-owned.
Another hedge fund billionaire, Paul Tudor Jones II, has large properties in New Zealand. Bill Gates has property in Nelson, New Zealand's sunniest region, at the northwestern tip of South Island.
Under the second article of the Treaty of Waitangi, Māori were guaranteed 'the full, exclusive and undisturbed possession of their lands and estates', and only the Crown could purchase land from them.
- Roberts and Apatu families (41,296 hectares combined.
- Michael Spencer (35,942 hectares.
- Port Blakely Limited (35,889 hectares)
- Global Forest Partners LLC (33,706 hectares)
- New Zealand Carbon Farming (28,365 hectares)
- Wairakei Pastoral Limited (27,634 hectares)
Are farmers rich NZ?
Farmers, we are in the land business. It may not seem like it, but most New Zealand farmers are wealthy or potentially so, particularly if you compare them with their cousins in town.
Foreigners with residency status in New Zealand as well as non-resident Australian and Singaporean nationals - are not affected by the ban. Chinese holding a resident visa that has been living in New Zealand for at least a year including at least 183 days in the past year, will still be able to purchase a home.
The land being claimed must have an existing record of title or a Crown grant registered under the Land Transfer Act 1952. A minimum of 20 years of uncontested continuous occupation must be established.
For example, if while checking a title you find evidence of Māori freehold ownership, you will need to check the status of the land within the land register or Māori Land Online. If the above investigation isn't conclusive, make inquiries at the Māori Land Court.
An interest in Māori land is, like general land, an economic asset that may be used, traded, sold or transferred. However, unlike general land, our Act sets strong rules around ensuring that land stays in the hands of its owners, whānau and the hapū associated with it.
An estimated 8.3m hectares (20.5m acres) of land in the North Island – nearly 73% of the landmass – as well as almost the entire South Island were taken from Māori through confiscation and inequitable purchases between 1840 and 1939.
Māori Land at 2000
Over the 20th century, the Crown (including local government) took land for public works purposes. Sometimes, land was gifted to the Crown for specific purposes, such as schools. Such land has not necessarily been returned to Māori once the original purposes have been fulfilled.
The 1860s saw confiscations of huge areas by the government and large areas of land began to be lost through the effect of the Native Land Court. The period between 1890 and 1920 saw a boom in government land purchases, despite Māori protests. By 1937, very little land was left in Māori ownership.
An interest in Māori land is, like general land, an economic asset that may be used, traded, sold or transferred. However, unlike general land, our Act sets strong rules around ensuring that land stays in the hands of its owners, whānau and the hapū associated with it.
Māori freehold land
This is land where Māori customary interests have been converted to freehold title by the Māori Land Court or its predecessors by a freehold order. This land has therefore never been out of Māori ownership.
Can you build on Māori land without consent?
In the case of Māori freehold land, there may be multiple registered owners based on Māori Land Court records, and being an owner does not always mean that the applicant has a right to build. Before a building consent may be processed, Council requires proof that an applicant has a right to build on the land.
Trustees cannot cannot alienate the Māori freehold land by sale or gift and if a member of the class of persons dies, the member's descendants remain beneficial owners or beneficiaries and there is no succession to the interest under Part 4.
Under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, the Crown could confiscate the land of any iwi 'engaged in rebellion' against the government. Altogether 1.3 million hectares of Māori land was confiscated, including most of the lower Waikato, Taranaki and the Bay of Plenty.
The acquisition of private land is usually done by negotiation and agreement with the landowner. If agreement to the taking and the compensation payable cannot be reached, the Government or Council can take your land by compulsion and build the project without delay.
In New Zealand, you would have to have continuously occupied the property for at least 20 years and be actively using it. Examples of the latter include: putting in fencing; planting or grazing the land; maintaining the building; and paying for the connection to utilities such as electricity and internet.
