How the Overseas Investment Office views property investment syndicates

Can lawyers front for otherwise prohibited classes overseas property buyers?

There’s been some instances where Crux has met overseas property owners (often landlords) in Queenstown but then discovered that the “registered” owner is a lawyer based in Auckland or Sydney.

We wondered if overseas buyers, or syndicates of buyers, could simply use local or Australian lawyers to avoid our overseas buyer rules.

Here’s our questions and answers with the Overseas Investment Office, which is part of LINZ.

How does OIO LINZ clear these syndicate members - and enforce the current law and restrictions around foreign buyers? Can syndicate members just self declare?

Investors in sensitive land must apply for consent under the Overseas Investment Act before “giving effect” to a transaction. Where a syndicate, limited partnership, managed investment scheme, or other similar vehicle is involved, the applicant must disclose the identity of the underlying investors as part of the process.

Sensitive land includes all residential land and most rural land. Commercial and industrial land is less likely to be sensitive land.